Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD)

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As the resident FSD hater, V14.2.1 is so darn good. I think I've been converted. I have the free trial on my 2024. Just paid for it on my 2026 for my wife. Really impressive now. Smooth and doesn't blatantly speed like it used to. Those were by biggest gripes before. I really enjoy driving myself and I actually like how it works now. Probably means they'll ruin it on the next update. lol.
 
Full Self Driving (Supervised). It watches your eyes, but this version is apparantly more lenient.
Our M3P is on 14.2.1.

Yeah, it's good, but I rarely use it. I've heard in crowded Costco parking lots, it may notice someone getting in their car, wait for them to leave and then park there.

 
Full Self Driving (Supervised). It watches your eyes, but this version is apparantly more lenient.
Our M3P is on 14.2.1.

Yeah, it's good, but I rarely use it. I've heard in crowded Costco parking lots, it may notice someone getting in their car, wait for them to leave and then park there.


It's been great on my 40 mile work commute. It finally gets over for oncoming traffic on undivided highways with v14.2.1. That was my big gripe. I'm still a little impatient with its dramatic stops to show it's not California rolling stop signs, but it definitely won't get you in trouble these days.
 
Sure it's an "improvement " but
"Tesla's FSD v14.2, like previous versions, still faces significant, documented challenges with railroad crossings, with drivers reporting failures to stop, running gates, and near-misses with trains, prompting renewed regulatory scrutiny from NHTSA and Congressional concern, even as some drivers find it improves in specific scenarios but remains inconsistent and sometimes dangerous, highlighting its "black-box" AI limitations." Numerous owners have reported it dismissing railroad crossing gates and thinking railroad tracks are roads.
I took a 2025 model s for a spin recently, you still can't convince me it's better than a person driving especially since you don't know if or when it plans on giving up.
 
Sure it's an "improvement " but
"Tesla's FSD v14.2, like previous versions, still faces significant, documented challenges with railroad crossings, with drivers reporting failures to stop, running gates, and near-misses with trains, prompting renewed regulatory scrutiny from NHTSA and Congressional concern, even as some drivers find it improves in specific scenarios but remains inconsistent and sometimes dangerous, highlighting its "black-box" AI limitations." Numerous owners have reported it dismissing railroad crossing gates and thinking railroad tracks are roads.
I took a 2025 model s for a spin recently, you still can't convince me it's better than a person driving especially since you don't know if or when it plans on giving up.
I never said it was perfect. I've been a hater. Its just improved that much now.
 
That's awesome. I have a $750 Comma aftermarket unit that plugs into my Bolt. I've been using it for highway self-driving for the past 5,000 miles but it can't handle city streets. Doesn't have the camera visibility, for one thing.
 
I never said it was perfect. I've been a hater. Its just improved that much now.
One of the issues is that even though Tesla claims it's "vastly safer" there have been numerous close calls with railroad crossings etc. My question is how did fsd get programmed to think railroad tracks were highways? I'm hoping the NHTSA issues a permanent stop sale. They have been heavily investigating after several incidents.
Tesla struck by train on tracks
 
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One of the issues is that even though Tesla claims it's "vastly safer" there have been numerous close calls with railroad crossings etc. My question is how did fsd get programmed to think railroad tracks were highways? I'm hoping the NHTSA issues a permanent stop sale. They have been heavily investigating after several incidents.
Tesla struck by train on tracks
I spend 6 days a week on the rails. I'll let you know immediately when I see a Tesla stuck on the rails or for that matter if mine does it since I'm always driving around rails.

It is a safety system. You're the back up instead of the other way around and the car braking for an inattentive driver. I don't know that I'll always use it. I did pay for it for my wife for a trip she has this weekend. I don't think she drives enough to warrant paying for it every month. I'm on the free trial. As I said I always hated it. It finally doesn't suck. I don't think even then that I'll be a regular subscriber. AutoPilot does enough for highway driving. That's 95% of my commute. For now I I'm enjoying it. I've used it for 170 miles and only had to intervene twice. I finally had my first drive that was intervention free and it was 40 miles. As far as I'm concerned this is a massive improvement.
 
Took a spin up 280 North to Menlo, decided to give the new release a decent shot. FYI I am not a big FSD user; I would rather drive. So the car exits on Sand Hill Road, east towards Stanford. I directed it to the Superchargers at a Starbucks; it started preconditioning the battery.

The offramp to Sand Hill Road intersection has a traffic light, so you stop before making the right turn. The car took the exit faster than I would, stopped at the light. Not any traffic but I am pretty paranoid of FSD so I am being very attentive... So the car begins the right turn and then immeadiately brakes hard. I think, "Stupid Tesla FSD, fantom braking or ?" Just then a $3000 road bike and rider flew by us. I did not see him and I had definitely looked. I was impressed. I would almost bet many a driver might have hit him. Cars and cyclists fly up there.

So the car pulled into the Sharon Park parking lot, out in the back where the chargers are, and backed into the 1st charger stall.

Later, on the way home, I turned off FSD because I wanted to take my time in the slow lane and chat with wifey. I had been lulled into semi-complacency because FSD stays in the middle of your lane better than most drivers; it steers well. Since I had just shut it off and was talking, the car drifter to the right. Driver error! I just discovered a dangerous a dangerous predicament; you easily easily get too used to the auto steering.
 
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I also get a weird feeling sometimes when my hand is on the wheel, keeping some oversight on the driver assist system, then I forget whether I'm driving or the car is driving. It happens at the end of a long drive. English could use a word for it.
 
Yeah 4.2.1 is great. Some annoying lane change hesitancy. Biggest issue I have is routing. I went to Staples today. It wanted to go all the way around the block to go to the back entrance. That would have been like two red lights and theee minutes more.
 
Took a spin up 280 North to Menlo, decided to give the new release a decent shot. FYI I am not a big FSD user; I would rather drive. So the car exits on Sand Hill Road, east towards Stanford. I directed it to the Superchargers at a Starbucks; it started preconditioning the battery.

The offramp to Sand Hill Road intersection has a traffic light, so you stop before making the right turn. The car took the exit faster than I would, stopped at the light. Not any traffic but I am pretty paranoid of FSD so I am being very attentive... So the car begins the right turn and then immeadiately brakes hard. I think, "Stupid Tesla FSD, fantom braking or ?" Just then a $3000 road bike and rider flew by us. I did not see him and I had definitely looked. I was impressed. I would almost bet many a driver might have hit him. Cars and cyclists fly up there.

So the car pulled into the Sharon Park parking lot, out in the back where the chargers are, and backed into the 1st charger stall.

Later, on the way home, I turned off FSD because I wanted to take my time in the slow lane and chat with wifey. I had been lulled into semi-complacency because FSD stays in the middle of your lane better than most drivers; it steers well. Since I had just shut it off and was talking, the car drifter to the right. Driver error! I just discovered a dangerous a dangerous predicament; you easily easily get too used to the auto steering.
I'm guessing you have it in Hurry or Max Max? It feels a lot more abrupt than Standard. I like Hurry, but I've kept it in Standard most of the time with slick conditions.
 
If the bus went non-stop from my house to the office, I'd definitely do it. I like driving on empty country roads, but not so much in traffic.
While I'd rather drive myself and can appreciate FSD, busses don't exist here and cabs don't run at 3am to drive me 40 miles to work on a 2 hour call. FSD is a safety feature when I'm tired. My wife just drove back 6 hours with the animal rescue and if she wasn't on FSD she would have likely had a head on collision with a wrong way driver while she was tired. I can't put into words how I feel about FSD now. I couldn't imagine losing my wife.
 
I know I just mentioned it in my last post here, but I should pull the video off the car and share it when I get the chance. The wrong way driver was on the wrong side of a 4 way divided highway. My wife told me she always stays in the left lane when no traffic is around especially at night. FSD used to left lane camp regardless, but it doesn't seem to do that anymore. The spot was in a curve and even in the video it's hard to see that the car is on her side of the road until it was close. She doesn't think she would have reacted quickly enough or appropriately for the conditions if she had been in the same lane as the other oncoming driver. She was doing 76mph on FSD and she thought the other driver was in excess of 80mph.

It's hard to think about and I don't want to be one of the FSD evangelists, but the fact that it's behavior is different than her driving habits would have likely had her in the other lane and she might not be here with me right now, I think I'm just going to keep paying for FSD. She told me she was tired at the time and had been up too long already at that point. Next time I'm going to plan ahead and get the time off to go with her to be safe. I am getting more comfortable using FSD now and I think I'll keep it on both cars for now.
 
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