Tesla’s Autopilot autonomous driving technology is learning to stop at traffic lights, judging by a video posted by one electric car driver.
The video, posted to Twitter, shows the Model 3 vehicle coming to a halt at a red light, automatically, without input from the human driver.
The activity is depicted on the centre console tablet, which shows a red banner over the road as the car approaches the traffic light. A notification on the display explains Autopilot is “stopping in 500m for traffic control.”
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A Twitter account called Out Of Spec Motoring posted the video and it isn’t clear where the clip originated from. It’s surely something that Tesla is testing right now, because it hasn’t been announced as an Autopilot update just yet. Electrek says it appears as if the update has rolled out to the “early access fleet” of beta testers.
However, there is speculation the electric car pioneer will look to include this update in the next official Autopilot update. The last update released in December didn’t contain the traffic light feature.
Autopilot stopping for red lights! ???????? ? ?
let’s goooooooo pic.twitter.com/C95etry3t5
— Third Row Tesla Podcast (@thirdrowtesla) March 26, 2020
The company is looking to bring a full self-driving package to drivers, subject to the requisite approvals from driving authorities in nations around the world.
Tesla flogs the package for $7,000, listing the ability to “Recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signs,” as well as “Automatic driving on city streets” among the feature list.
Tesla’s self-driving tech has been somewhat neutered in Europe. Back in December, the company expressed disappointment with an EU decision to effectively reduce the capabilities of the technology.
The firm emailed drivers to say: “regulators have chosen to impose, limiting the effectiveness of these features, and will continue to advocate that full functionality be restored.”
The company explained the changes as follows:
Auto Lane Change will be restricted for use on divided roads with two or more lanes of traffic in either direction.
Once Auto Lane Change is activated and the indicator is turned on, your car will wait a minimum of one and a half seconds before starting the lane change and will wait up to five seconds before cancelling if the lane change has not been able to start.
The limit of how far the steering wheel can turn while using Autosteer is reduced and can affect your car’s ability to maneuver curves or stay within the lane, require you to take action.
Summon will require that you be within six meters of your car’s location to operate.
You’ll receive a reminder to hold steering wheel if it does not detect your hands on the wheel for 15 seconds.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
