> For Model S vehicles, latch problems may lead a front trunk to open "without warning and obstruct the driver’s visibility, increasing the risk of a crash," Tesla said.
"increasing the risk of a crash" is an optimistic description of what would happen if the frunk opened while driving. Even if the loss of visibility didn't directly cause an accident, the distraction/confusion/anxiety could easily cause a crash indirectly.
I guess this is one instance where you're much better off in FSD mode, since the computer's vision wouldn't be obstructed by the open frunk, nor would it 'freak out' the same way a human driver would. Of course, you'd still have to have the driver take over in order to pull the car over, but at least you could do so when it was safe to do so (assuming you could resist the urge/reflex to mash the brake pedal when the frunk popped open).
At risk of being pedantic, Teslas' front facing cameras are located behind the windshield and would be obstructed by an open trunk just the same as a human driver's vision would be.
There’s a YT video of a guy taping over the cams one by one. The car performs still pretty impressively even with most cameras blocked.
(I was pointed to this video because I, too had been skeptical after seeing normal “navigate on autopilot” disable itself due to one camera being blinded by the sun. Apparently, FSD is much better at handling such situations.)
Right, I forgot that Tesla threw out every single line of code, every single model, and crushed all AP2 cars when AP 2.5 came around. Same again for AP 3.
(Those of us who live in reality like to use the concept of inference)
Appreciate the correction! I wondered if this was the case when I wrote my comment, but figured the cameras were in the front grille. I guess putting the cameras higher up gives better perspective and reduces the chance of splashed mud/water that would obscure their view.
Hmmm, but possibly better for the cars following ... a hood detached from a car at highway speed is the closest thing I can imagine to a UFO Robot Grandizer Single Harken (for those that were kids in the '70's):
Heh, reminds me of front-facing “suicide doors” on cars that were so named (in part) because the air at highway speeds pushes said doors further open when cracked (or even before).
I’ve seen many cars accidentally driven with the hood open but caught by the safety latch at highway speeds.
I imagine either regulations and/or good engineering makes it safe to drive with an open but latched hood considering that you can pop the hood while driving by accident.
Unorthodox opinion: would it not have been safer-in-net to keep those recalled cars on the road to prevent repair delays? Now maybe-possibly ineffectual recall repairs will swarm facilities, while owners with real, serious car issues will be forced to keep driving them. Another reason why car over-regulation hurts the driver most of all!
> Now maybe-possibly ineffectual recall repairs will swarm facilities
One of these involves the frunk potentially opening itself on the highway. That's a pretty serious issue, and probably significantly more dangerous than most of the repairs that need to be made.
> Another reason why car over-regulation hurts the driver most of all!
This isn't car over-regulation. Tesla does not have the capacity to repair all of their vehicles in a timely manner, and will not make the repair manual available for reasonable prices so that 3rd party shops could do the repairs.
You know who can fix my Dodge if the dealer is backed up with warranty stuff? Every other mechanic shop on the planet.
Tesla shipped a faulty product, Tesla doesn't have the repair facilities to rectify that, and now Tesla owners are suffering because of it.
It is in no way the government's fault for not wanting people driving around 2 ton hunks of metal at 70 mph when a piece of it might randomly obstruct their vision at any point. That seems an eminently reasonable requirement to me.
No that’s literally what minimum safety standards are for, because we can’t expect consumers to do that effectively. And while imperfect they’ve been demonstrated over many decades to improve safety and public welfare. Also because if your front hood pops up and you swerve and crash your car, it puts other road users in danger not just your adult car owning sef.
In general, roads are shared between multiple adults.
When one adult is being a dangerous moron, the other adults can create systems to prevent said moron from being on the road. This is how regulation is born.
So the decision was never the moron’s to make in the first place.
It creates gross inefficiency by forcing repair shops to "fix" a statistically unlikely flaw, while genuinely dangerous problems that Tesla owners are already aware of get pushed to the back of the line.
48 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 35.1 ms ] thread"increasing the risk of a crash" is an optimistic description of what would happen if the frunk opened while driving. Even if the loss of visibility didn't directly cause an accident, the distraction/confusion/anxiety could easily cause a crash indirectly.
I guess this is one instance where you're much better off in FSD mode, since the computer's vision wouldn't be obstructed by the open frunk, nor would it 'freak out' the same way a human driver would. Of course, you'd still have to have the driver take over in order to pull the car over, but at least you could do so when it was safe to do so (assuming you could resist the urge/reflex to mash the brake pedal when the frunk popped open).
(I was pointed to this video because I, too had been skeptical after seeing normal “navigate on autopilot” disable itself due to one camera being blinded by the sun. Apparently, FSD is much better at handling such situations.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=92&v=yKgBakJc8ZY&f...
(Those of us who live in reality like to use the concept of inference)
Not sure if that's exactly unexpected...
https://mazingerzgreatkaiser.fandom.com/wiki/Grendizer#Weapo...
I guess these Teslas have “suicide frunks”!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_door#Disadvantages
I imagine either regulations and/or good engineering makes it safe to drive with an open but latched hood considering that you can pop the hood while driving by accident.
One of these involves the frunk potentially opening itself on the highway. That's a pretty serious issue, and probably significantly more dangerous than most of the repairs that need to be made.
> Another reason why car over-regulation hurts the driver most of all!
This isn't car over-regulation. Tesla does not have the capacity to repair all of their vehicles in a timely manner, and will not make the repair manual available for reasonable prices so that 3rd party shops could do the repairs.
You know who can fix my Dodge if the dealer is backed up with warranty stuff? Every other mechanic shop on the planet.
Tesla shipped a faulty product, Tesla doesn't have the repair facilities to rectify that, and now Tesla owners are suffering because of it.
It is in no way the government's fault for not wanting people driving around 2 ton hunks of metal at 70 mph when a piece of it might randomly obstruct their vision at any point. That seems an eminently reasonable requirement to me.
When one adult is being a dangerous moron, the other adults can create systems to prevent said moron from being on the road. This is how regulation is born.
So the decision was never the moron’s to make in the first place.
Shall we allow also drunk adult car owners to decide on their own what is a genuine hazard and what is scaremongering ?
And we have regulation because not all adults know how dangerous the problem is.
European recall is forthcoming I suppose