My Cybertruck rear ended a Silverado. No Collision Avoidance Assist

[Pops]

Lane splitting isn't illegal in California, and the origins in air-cooled motorcycles made sense (not just for motorcycle cops on Harleys). There is no question that lane splitting brings with it risks for bikers and drivers alike, and requires hyper alertness. I split lanes the entire time I lived in Los Angeles and there were a few dicey situations but I never had a collision and am, clearly, still around. If you could explain why you mentioned Afghanistan and Singapore maybe we could better evaluate your position.

I believe there was a study that showed a lower incidence of accidents for motorcycles when lane splitting than when not. It turns out lane splitting is safer.

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[mongo]

I'm looking at it and wondering why the driver merged behind the Silverado when there was a huge gap and room to get in front of it.

Did you watch the full video in post 1, or just my clip of the end? The Silverado was next to the Cybertruck the whole time. The gap in front of the Silverado only occurred due to the sedan not completing its lane change.

 

[Pops]

Here are my take aways from this thread.

• Accidents happen, in this case OP was at fault but this is a common type of accident. Sudden slowing of other vehicles while merging.
• The CTs safety features failed to activate/alert in this example for unknown reasons.
• In theory FSD would have reacted, but its unavailable.

 

[Woodrick]

Did you watch the full video in post 1, or just my clip of the end? The Silverado was next to the Cybertruck the whole time. The gap in front of the Silverado only occurred due to the sedan not completing its lane change.

Yes, I did. I saw the big gap and then was surprised when the driver pulled behind the Silverado with a vehicle that was very possibly not able to completely exit their lane because of slow/stopped traffic as well.

Which just happens to be the same as the Cybertruck, not enough room for it to exit the lane as well.

Looking at it a few more times, the front gold car seemingly attempted the exact same thing that the Cybertruck did, lane change into a lane without sufficient clearance to completely enter it.
The gold car did properly stop when the car in front brakes went on.
The Silverado stopped when the car in front brakes went on.
And the Cybertruck just kept going.

I could see in the video the brakes coming on for all three vehicles.

 

[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

My collision avoidance is so very active that it will do a hard beaking even if there's nothing there in front of me.

And there's that annoying alarm too.

 

[jcktrb]

Here are my take aways from this thread.

• Accidents happen, in this case OP was at fault but this is a common type of accident. Sudden slowing of other vehicles while merging.
• The CTs safety features failed to activate/alert in this example for unknown reasons.
• In theory FSD would have reacted, but its unavailable.

This is my takeaway too. I've already accepted liability (Tesla Insurance) and scheduled the repair for August 15. We'll see how long the parts take.

We pulled over onto the shoulder immediately, as everyone should do in case of a minor accident. I wish people would stop holding up traffic for every minor fender bender. The whole exchange took under 5 minutes as we took photos and exchanged insurance info.

The other driver shrugged the whole thing off and was more upset at the driver in front of him for pulling that incomplete lane change maneuver that caught him by surprise. Checking the damage surprised us both. His reaction was "what is this thing made of?" because on the face of it, the Cybertruck incurred very little damage.

However once you look closely you notice the dent on the facia, light bar, etc. and the headlight mount broke off causing it to be loose. He estimates his repair to be at under $2k. Looking at the prices for the damaged parts, I think the Cybertruck repair will exceed $10k.

Anyway, this was more of a PSA post to you other Cybertruck owners - I do think that the Cybertruck is a little less cautious when it comes to avoiding accidents, and coming from the background of owning other Teslas we may have let our guard down. This will hopefully change with future software updates, but for now don't relax too much while driving it. And yes, I double checked that I had everything enabled.

I still find it interesting that it turned on the hazards right away. I wonder if it's because I slammed hard on the brakes at the last moment, or if it detected an impact through the camera..

 

[ModelXer]

The Silverado has more visible damage but the Cybertruck will probably cost a lot more to repair.

Start at the 50 second mark unless you enjoy watching 110 traffic.

Unfortunately no alert from the collision avoidance, neither audible nor emergency breaking. Maybe my speed was too low?

Yikes! Sorry about your insurance rates.... assuming they'll let you renew.

 

[justinpratt]

He wasn’t cut off, that car was merging right but had to stop halfway due to traffic.
Truck driver played it safe and stopped instead of trying to squeeze by the car.
OP here should have been watching the road, it’s ridiculous to blame anything but the driver at this point, software is no excuse as the driver is still required to take action if necessary.

Absolutely!
Love it when a person says “my car did it”. No, no… the person did it. Inanimate objects don’t make decisions.

 

[Spacenoddle]

Yes, I did. I saw the big gap and then was surprised when the driver pulled behind the Silverado with a vehicle that was very possibly not able to completely exit their lane because of slow/stopped traffic as well.

Which just happens to be the same as the Cybertruck, not enough room for it to exit the lane as well.

Looking at it a few more times, the front gold car seemingly attempted the exact same thing that the Cybertruck did, lane change into a lane without sufficient clearance to completely enter it.
The gold car did properly stop when the car in front brakes went on.
The Silverado stopped when the car in front brakes went on.
And the Cybertruck just kept going.

I could see in the video the brakes coming on for all three vehicles.

Yeah, they were all trying to follow the navigation's "faster route" to cut through the multiple lanes for the imminent exit.

The GPS should not suggest such "faster route" in its algorithm.

 

[panthar]

The collision detection is via the front camera, that angle I think is out of sight. It works purely for front collision and some small front to angle collision.
I saw your video, I think you have same problem as me, I feel the brakes for CT are not that strong, I spoke to Tesla they said vehicle is heavy so its ok. But to me I feel the brakes providing lesser resistance than they should. We all are ok day to day due to strong regen but on some narraw escapes like these ... brakes are no good ...

 

[Spacenoddle]

The collision detection is via the front camera, that angle I think is out of sight. It works purely for front collision and some small front to angle collision.
I saw your video, I think you have same problem as me, I feel the brakes for CT are not that strong, I spoke to Tesla they said vehicle is heavy so its ok. But to me I feel the brakes providing lesser resistance than they should. We all are ok day to day due to strong regen but on some narraw escapes like these ... brakes are no good ...

Find a empty parking lot, floor your accelerater to about 60mph, then floor the brake, you will know how good the CT brake is. I did it 5 times in the car control clinic, even the instructer sitting next to me said the braking was very impressive for the vehicle of this size.

the one of problems for long time EV driver is hard braking become a second thought after getting used to the regen brake. ICE drivers have to quick slam the brake if in emergency but EV drivers seem very easy to lose that instinct we were getting from years ICE vehicle driving. for god sake, we are not used to always switch our feet back to the brake padal anymore.

In the emergency, split of second slow on braking could be the difference between a accident and a close call. So end of the day, it is not CT braking not good, it is US not braking faster enough like we drove ICE vehicle before.

I don't know how to deal with it because i seem start to lose that braking instinct after 3 months EV driving as well.

 

[rlhamil]

Find a empty parking lot, floor your accelerater to about 60mph, then floor the brake, you will know how good the CT brake is. I did it 5 times in the car control clinic, even the instructer sitting next to me said the braking was very impressive for the vehicle of this size.

the one of problems for long time EV driver is hard braking become a second thought after getting used to the regen brake. ICE drivers have to quick slam the brake if in emergency but EV drivers seem very easy to lose that instinct we were getting from years ICE vehicle driving. for god sake, we are not used to always switch our feet back to the brake padal anymore.

In the emergency, split of second slow on braking could be the difference between a accident and a close call. So end of the day, it is not CT braking not good, it is US not braking faster enough like we drove ICE vehicle before.

I don't know how to deal with it because i seem start to lose that braking instinct after 3 months EV driving as well.

I've only driven a basic rental Model 3 for a couple of weeks, to make sure it wasn't too strange for me given a CT reservation (only at the refundable $100 level back then). Loved the TACC, and the regen braking affected me only in that I'd allow a bit more following distance so that when possible I could get a full stop with just regen braking; but I'd still hit the real brakes if I had to. Didn't try the other half of Autopilot (rental did not have FSD), the lane maintain and freeway navigation. Or rather, I tried the lane maintain briefly, but didn't really want to learn its limits in a rental car in a place (Phoenix) I grew up in but have not driven much in, having lived other places since before I had a license. And I had no need to go on the freeway, so didn't. I did drive late at night for a burger once, on a quiet straight road (most main roads in Phoenix are as much as possible straight N/S or E/W except diagonal Grand Ave and the ring freeways) so I tried a bit more then. The lane maintain nudges the steering wheel when engaging, which I'd have to get used to being harmless before I got comfortable with it.

Bottom line, and why I appreciate this discussion: I think if one RTFM thoroughly about Autopilot and FSD behavior, is aware of the screen left side perception display showing what's recognized, and THINKS about adjusting one's habits to take advantage but not over-depend on the car, and consciously does this from one's early days of driving Teslas, one should be mostly fine.

Regardless of how one approaches it, one has to consider it a learning experience compared to less automated vehicles.

 

[Spacenoddle]

I've only driven a basic rental Model 3 for a couple of weeks, to make sure it wasn't too strange for me given a CT reservation (only at the refundable $100 level back then). Loved the TACC, and the regen braking affected me only in that I'd allow a bit more following distance so that when possible I could get a full stop with just regen braking; but I'd still hit the real brakes if I had to. Didn't try the other half of Autopilot (rental did not have FSD), the lane maintain and freeway navigation. Or rather, I tried the lane maintain briefly, but didn't really want to learn its limits in a rental car in a place (Phoenix) I grew up in but have not driven much in, having lived other places since before I had a license. And I had no need to go on the freeway, so didn't. I did drive late at night for a burger once, on a quiet straight road (most main roads in Phoenix are as much as possible straight N/S or E/W except diagonal Grand Ave and the ring freeways) so I tried a bit more then. The lane maintain nudges the steering wheel when engaging, which I'd have to get used to being harmless before I got comfortable with it.

Bottom line, and why I appreciate this discussion: I think if one RTFM thoroughly about Autopilot and FSD behavior, is aware of the screen left side perception display showing what's recognized, and THINKS about adjusting one's habits to take advantage but not over-depend on the car, and consciously does this from one's early days of driving Teslas, one should be mostly fine.

Regardless of how one approaches it, one has to consider it a learning experience compared to less automated vehicles.

The problem is EV regen brake, not sure it is by design or what, even you abruptly lift your foot away from the accelerator, it will brake hard but not hard enough like flooring the brake pedal. So for ICE cars, brake pedal is your only option to fully stop your car but in EV, brake pedel is the next step if regen won’t stop in time. Usually this habit would cause you much slower or hesitated to use the brake pedal. This usually won’t cause life threatening accidents but definitely is easier to cause the rear ended accidents in low speed contact.

 

[Pops]

Absolutely!
Love it when a person says “my car did it”. No, no… the person did it. Inanimate objects don’t make decisions.

That is not really true anymore is it? Auto Emergency Brakes, FSD, traffic away cruise control, lane keeping... those all are decisions made by an inanimate object. What a time to be alive!

I am frequently using cruise control and the truck will slow down dramatically out of no where. This scares the passengers, they gasp and look at me. "Sorry the car did it" is a 100% true statement.

 

[rlhamil]

The problem is EV regen brake, not sure it is by design or what, even you abruptly lift your foot away from the accelerator, it will brake hard but not hard enough like flooring the brake pedal. So for ICE cars, brake pedal is your only option to fully stop your car but in EV, brake pedel is the next step if regen won’t stop in time. Usually this habit would cause you much slower or hesitated to use the brake pedal. This usually won’t cause life threatening accidents but definitely is easier to cause the rear ended accidents in low speed contact.

That’s why I like longer following distance insofar as that’s not an invitation for some over-aggressive loon to cut in front.

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