# Took a test drive - Need to better understand Blind Spot warning



## CoastalCruiser

Test drove a 68xxx series dual motor, non-perfomance. Delightful experience. Test drives are of course solo right now due to C19. They gave me 1/2 hour so I was able to exercise the car on both the freeway and residential roads.

I was trying to observe how the blind spot warning system works. The only indication were some curved lines on the display when a car was in my blind spot. I was expecting an audible indication.

I checked the manual and did not see anything about turning on an audible indicator. Such a feature may get annoying, but I'm not sure how well the rather subtle indicator would work for me. If you begin a lane change with an adjacent car in the blind spot would you then receive a warning?


(from the manual)
When an object is detected in your blind spot or near the side of Model Y (such as a vehicle, guard rail, etc.), the touchscreen displays colored lines radiating from the image of your vehicle. The location of the lines correspond to the location of the detected object. The color of the lines (white, yellow, orange, or red) represent the object's proximity to Model Y, with white being the farthest and red being the closest and requiring your immediate attention. These colored lines only display when driving between approximately 7 and 85 mph (12 and 140 km/h). When Autosteer is active, these colored lines also display if driving slower than 7 mph (12 km/h). However, the colored lines do not display if Model Y is at a standstill (for example, in heavy traffic)


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## Bigriver

An audible warning only occurs if you start to change lanes and someone is in the blind spot.


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## CoastalCruiser

Someone linked me to a video that indicates you must first turn the audible indicator on, and even then it only seems to sound off if a car is approaching your blind spot from behind... not so much if a car is already in the blind spot. If you have had different results please let me know. I am hoping for the latter.


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## Bigriver

In the video, note that the audible warning only goes off as he starts to change lanes and a car is in the way. If you stay within your lane and cars are in your blind spot or come into your blind spot, there will be no audible warning.


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## Bigriver

@CoastalCruiser, are you thinking you want a beep going off any time you are driving and there is a car in your blind spot? Does any car have things set up this way? I would think that would be incredibly annoying. I know my Volvo has a light that turns on on the side mirrors whenever someone is in my blind spot, but it is very subtle and I only notice it when I intentionally look at the side mirror, which I usually only do if I'm planning to change lanes.

Blind spot monitoring was once on the top of my list for the most important safety feature for a car to have. I do not think Tesla's is perfect, but I have found it satisfactory. Before the audible warning that only happens once you start to move and someone is in the way, you'll see the in-the-way car as red on the screen as soon as you turn on your turn signal. That has always been enough to prevent me from making the errant maneuver. I just had to learn to look at the screen in addition to the side mirror.

I expect in the near future for Tesla to add the option for the side camera view becoming large on the screen when the turn signal is activated. That will be another helpful aid for BSM. While the view is there now, it is too small to be of much use.


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## garsh

Bigriver said:


> @CoastalCruiser, are you thinking you want a beep going off any time you are driving and there is a car in your blind spot? Does any car have things set up this way?


My Hyundai does this, but only if you have that turn signal activated as well.


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## CoastalCruiser

Bigriver said:


> @CoastalCruiser, are you thinking you want a beep going off any time you are driving and there is a car in your blind spot? Does any car have things set up this way?


Definitely only when the blinker is on. I just want more than the car was doing on the test drive when I was playing with the feature. Looking at the mirror and then shifting to the display may be a hard habit to get in to, for me. But having learned you can enable an audible warning as well helps a lot.


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## NR4P

The Tesla blind spot warning is a disappointment, IMO. If I have to move towards the lane where there is already a car there, the Tesla blind spot warning is the second audible warning. The first one is louder, it's the car/truck driver leaning on their horn.


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## Needsdecaf

NR4P said:


> The Tesla blind spot warning is a disappointment, IMO. If I have to move towards the lane where there is already a car there, the Tesla blind spot warning is the second audible warning. The first one is louder, it's the car/truck driver leaning on their horn.


Agree, it's garbage. I almost clipped someone the other day (totally my fault) as I did not see them. I came pretty close and yet the car was completely silent. And yet at other times, it's beeped.

Having the only visual clue be on the center display is pretty marginally useful.


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## Mr. Spacely

It works great for me. As more and more self driving features roll out you have to get used to looking at the display. It's like flying a plane in the clouds-- you look at the instruments.


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## TrevP

There's certainly room for improvement with Tesla's implementation given they have not put indicators in the mirrors like everyone else does in the industry. We're at the mercy of what they can display on the single screen or audible alerts. Personally I don't want audible alerts every time a car pops up in my blindspot (other than if I have my blinker on) but by the same token I don't have to keep checking my screen to see if there's a car there either.

Personally I think the easiest solution is for Tesla to let go of the notion of no LEDs in the mirrors and just implement those, it's not that hard...


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## Needsdecaf

Mr. Spacely said:


> It works great for me. As more and more self driving features roll out you have to get used to looking at the display. It's like flying a plane in the clouds-- you look at the instruments.


Disagree entirely. Requiring someone to focus in other areas is not a great implementation at all. I don't want to have to look at the display in order to get an alert when I am looking at my mirror and over my shoulder. That's counterintuitive.

Glad it works for you but it's just not a well implemented feature. A band-aid at best. Compared to other cars I own and have used that have mirrors on the mirror base or in the mirror themselves, this system just only alerts you at the absolute last second with the beep, if at all.

My other cars with this system had a yellow light that illuminated if a car is in your blind spot, and that light flashes if you put on your turn signal or move toward the car. My BMW used to vibrate the steering wheel as well. I drove a Cadillac that vibrated the seat cushion on the side that the blind spot was on if you signaled or moved over. To me, that's a good system.



TrevP said:


> There's certainly room for improvement with Tesla's implementation given they have not put indicators in the mirrors like everyone else does in the industry. We're at the mercy of what they can display on the single screen or audible alerts. Personally I don't want audible alerts every time a car pops up in my blindspot (other than if I have my blinker on) but by the same token I don't have to keep checking my screen to see if there's a car there either.
> 
> Personally I think the easiest solution is for Tesla to let go of the notion of no LEDs in the mirrors and just implement those, it's not that hard...


Agree. I don't want alerts unless I either signal while someone is there, or start to move over. And I agree, the LED on or in the mirror is the best way to do it. Tesla is trying to implement a feature with what they have that's not designed for it, and it shows. I give them credit for trying though. After all it was free. And I think added as an OTA update, correct? Or was it always there?


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## CoastalCruiser

Hmm. I'm afraid that at this point it's looking for me -someone who has never favored using a single display for so many functions- that this is another example of the weakness in such an approach. I've never had a car with blind spot indicators, but the references in this thread of placing the indicator in the mirrors instantly resonates strongly as the ideal solution. Ha ha. Now I think I know what I want from such a system:

1) An indicator in the mirror of a nearby car - before you even turn on the blinker. Why throw the other driver into defense mode when they see your blinker? Just wait for a better time, with the exception being those times when you want to beg to get in the lane because you are about to miss your turn off.

2) A different indication (like a different color) in the mirror of a nearby car if you have activated your blinker and someone is either moving up in the adjacent lane, or is already partially parallel with your car (like right in that right-rear blind spot)

3) The addition of an audible alarm if you are asleep at the wheel and actually start to move into the lane when it's unsafe. And damn it, if the car can make fart noises I want to be able to program what that audible is. I think I'd start with the 5PM whistle when Fred Flinstone gets off work. But the possibilities are endless.

Of course what I want and What I'll get are likely two different things. A conundrum I am well used to in this life.


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## bwilson4web

I've never had a blind spot problem with my Std Rng Plus Model 3. AutoPilot does pretty much all of my lane changes, +95%. When on multilane road that won't let AutoPilot run, the display is quite effective augmenting by properly aligned, outside mirrors. Both left and right mirrors are at the widest view angle. But then I'm an old man, 70, who has driven some ancient vehicles.

Bob Wilson


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## AutopilotFan

I really like having all this info on ONE display. I can look at my car's image and see where it thinks all the other cars are on the road, as well as where it thinks the road markings and other obstacles are. When I am thinking of changing lanes, I look at it.

There's no need for a blind spot warning unless I have expressed an intention to change lanes. I like that I can see that there's a car that's too close in the same spot that I can see all the cars -- and it won't warn me just about a car in my blind spot, it warns me that there is a car coming up too fast for me to safely perform the lane change!

It's as if a designer sat down and thought about all the different issues drivers have and all the different detection & warning services that have been developed separately over the last 50 years and made them into something centralized and coherent and taking advantage of all the technology in the car all together.


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## Shilliard528

garsh said:


> My Hyundai does this, but only if you have that turn signal activated as well.


My 2020 X Makes no noise even When audible Blindspot is on


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