# Forward Collision Warning doesn't seem to work at all



## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

Hi, everyone,

I went to Tesla to test drive 3 different Tesla model3, and test drove my friend's Tesla also. On all 4 cars, none of the cars really had the forward collision warning working, when I set the warning to be EARLY. During the four test drives, I tried to crash into the front stopped car at about 40 miles per hour for 25 times. The salesman or saleswoman were all terrified sitting right besides me. Truly if I didn't hit the brake and also change lane in the last couple of seconds, the Tesla WILL COLLIDE. BUT I only got 1 warning out of some 25 crashing experiences, 5 of which, I requested the salesman to drive crashing into the front car, to SHOW me how the forward collision warning work.

Because I've never used a single pedal to drive, I set Tesla to two pedal driving. I think it could be a lot easier to trigger the warning if you are using single pedal driving. I believe the warning CAN be trigger a lot more easily IF you are accelerating, while the front car is decelerating or stopped. And it's easily triggered IF you're driving uphill, because very often you need to hit on gas pedal to go towards the stopped car. However, when I drove with two pedals, I wasn't stepping on either gas nor break pedal, because my speed was already TOO FAST in the first place. With such driving conditions, Tesla model 3 essentially triggered ZERO out of 25 times, except once where it seemed to trigger due to potential side collision.

This "safety" feature, along with automatic emergency brake, I was told, is ALWAYS active, whether you're using Auto-Pilot or not. However, it simply did NOT work for me. I really wonder what's your experiences. I think if you use a single pedal driving, it could "invalidate" the crashing test, because the moment that you partially release the gas pedal, it's equivalent as braking. And IF you apply brake at all, according to the manual, forward collision warning will NOT be on. That makes the crashing test to be much harder to do, because you pretty much need to step on the gas pedal, not to show any braking, and thus accelerating INTO the front vehicle. In fact, if you change lane, it will invalidate any potential warnings as well. However, my last-second lane-changing was truly necessary. If I hadn't done that in every case, in every case, I would have CRASHED without any doubt. And of course, that scared the **** out of ALL the riders with me, my family and the salesman. I did all these tests, by making SURE beforehand that there is an empty lane available for me to do this lane change.

I found a youtube online who tested a model S (3 years ago) by crashing into a cardboard box, which is a much safer way to do this test. However, his test totally failed. Not only AEB braking didn't happen, but NO beeps from forward collision warning system either.

I also performed the same crazy crashing tests with Honda, Toyota, and Nissan cars that had similar features. ALL of all other cars gave me beeping warning (,and all of other salesman were scared too). That meant that my crashing test was probably valid, since all other brands had no problems detecting the impending crash, except Tesla.

Just a warning. PLEASE DO NOT perform this test, unless you're an expert driver that can react super-fast. Towards the end, even I was scared to be SO CLOSE to collision, and YET the Tesla just would NOT beep.

I just wonder what's your experiences with this feature. Thanks.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Just to be clear forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking are 2 different things. 

It’s not 100% and neither are guarantees of no accident. 

Also as for automatic emergency braking, if you have depressed the accelerator and/or are turning the wheel it will not kick in.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

yh68l said:


> Because I've never used a single pedal to drive, I set Tesla to two pedal driving.


where'd you find this option?


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

I’ve had my Model 3 beep at me a few times. It’s loud. It’s affective. It alerts me so much that my adrenaline flows and I almost get mad at it for saving me from a wreck.


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## M3OC Rules (Nov 18, 2016)

yh68l said:


> Hi, everyone,
> 
> I went to Tesla to test drive 3 different Tesla model3, and test drove my friend's Tesla also. On all 4 cars, none of the cars really had the forward collision warning working, when I set the warning to be EARLY. During the four test drives, I tried to crash into the front stopped car at about 40 miles per hour for 25 times. The salesman or saleswoman were all terrified sitting right besides me. Truly if I didn't hit the brake and also change lane in the last couple of seconds, the Tesla WILL COLLIDE. BUT I only got 1 warning out of some 25 crashing experiences, 5 of which, I requested the salesman to drive crashing into the front car, to SHOW me how the forward collision warning work.
> 
> ...


I feel like this is maybe a troll post but in case it isn't please stop test driving vehicles and have some respect for other people and their property.


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## BluestarE3 (Oct 12, 2017)

MelindaV said:


> where'd you find this option?


Maybe Creep Mode and/or Low Regen?


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## Edward Reading (Jun 26, 2017)

Not buying it


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## tencate (Jan 11, 2018)

Over a year+ and 35k+ miles with Max, I've had the forward collision warning happen a few times (and I was glad it did in a few instances). I've also felt it start to brake. Mine is not set to EARLY but medium or something. Never messed with the setting.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

will add, I've also had the collision warning (when cars ahead of the car I was following abruptly slowed) without attempting to "crash the car".


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

M3OC Rules said:


> I feel like this is maybe a troll post but in case it isn't please stop test driving vehicles and have some respect for other people and their property.


I will add and suggest that I have never heard of someone trying to crash a test drive car 25 times. If I was in the passenger seat I would have stopped the test drive. In line with my original reply to the original poster - these safety features are not guarantees. They're in place to hopefully stop and ideally minimize damage and injury in an accident. You should NEVER go out and drive with the intent of trying to get results from these features.


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## mswlogo (Oct 8, 2018)

We’re the cars all calibrated? How many miles on each. They probably were because the demos usually want to show off auto pilot. 

My Jeep has this feature and in 90k miles it has never applied brakes and maybe 2-3 warnings. And I have it set early warning active braking. Yet others on the forum complain how sensitive it is on late warning and end up turning the system off. It’s all how you drive. 

This whole thing doesn’t sound like a smooth move. Other cars around you could react unexpectedly. You don’t do tests like this on public streets with passengers. I’d be pissed if you were coming up behind me like that. So you don’t sound very “professional” to me.


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## Ken Voss (Feb 2, 2017)

yh68l said:


> Hi, everyone,
> 
> I went to Tesla to test drive 3 different Tesla model3, and test drove my friend's Tesla also. On all 4 cars, none of the cars really had the forward collision warning working, when I set the warning to be EARLY. During the four test drives, I tried to crash into the front stopped car at about 40 miles per hour for 25 times. The salesman or saleswoman were all terrified sitting right besides me. Truly if I didn't hit the brake and also change lane in the last couple of seconds, the Tesla WILL COLLIDE. BUT I only got 1 warning out of some 25 crashing experiences, 5 of which, I requested the salesman to drive crashing into the front car, to SHOW me how the forward collision warning work.
> 
> ...


Clearly, this is a troll from someone who doesn't understand. MODERATORS do you really want this post here?


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

Ken Voss said:


> Clearly, this is a troll from someone who doesn't understand. MODERATORS do you really want this post here?


we generally do not delete threads just because they appear to be FUD/Trollish, but instead figure the community as a whole will set things right.


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## M3OC Rules (Nov 18, 2016)

MelindaV said:


> we generally do not delete threads just because they appear to be FUD/Trollish, but instead figure the community as a whole will set things right.


Thanks for all the work @MelindaV and the rest of the moderators. I can't imagine how much time you spend to make this a good community.

To your comment, if anyone has any doubt that maybe there is some scintilla of truth to what this person is saying there are several organizations that carefully test these safety systems. This includes the NHTSA, Consumer Reports, and the IIHS. They have all tested the Model 3 and many other cars. They all found no issues with the Model 3 Automatic Emergency Braking system. The IIHS gave it a superior rating. The Model 3 AEB and other manufacturers AEB do not override drivers and there are limitations with objects in the road that aren't moving while you're traveling at high speeds. In other words, it's not perfect but its as good or better than other manufacturers. And if you ask someone who has had the car for awhile they have probably set off the front crash alert as several people noted above. I generally try to give people lots of space but I have set it off and it may have saved me a low-speed rear-ending.

Edit: I should add that they test the forward collision warning as well and it meets the NHTSA criteria. Here is an overview: "To earn a point for forward collision warning, the system must meet NHTSA criteria. That means the system must issue a warning before a specified time in 5 of 7 test trials under three scenarios. The agency identifies vehicles with systems that meet the standard as part of its online ratings. "


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

No, I did try to crash the car 25 times, because I so REALLY want to buy it.

I kept thinking that it must be just this particular Tesla car that somehow it's not calibrated correctly, or whatever.

But in the end, I just couldn't convince myself, and that's why I'm posting here.


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

Because I have fallen asleep in the past on freeway, SEVERAL times. I really need this feature to work correctly for me. And same for the lane departure warning. Unfortunately, Tesla's driving wheel simply doesn't vibrate hard enough for me. Not sure if I could wake up from that vibration. But even that, I have tried to convince myself that it's okay to let go that one (lane departure warning).

What I suspect happening (just my theory) is that somehow the last round of software update may have introduced something that is not working like before.

Of course, the government agencies supposedly have tested the features. But in all likelihood, nobody re-test the same car again and again when the software gets updated. Only Tesla will test them.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

yh68l said:


> No, I did try to crash the car 25 times, because I so REALLY want to buy it.


You'll have to forgive me if I have misunderstood something, but read your first post again. I have quoted below...



yh68l said:


> During the four test drives, I tried to crash into the front stopped car at about 40 miles per hour for 25 times.


As for this...



yh68l said:


> Because I have fallen asleep in the past on freeway, SEVERAL times. I really need this feature to work correctly for me. And same for the lane departure warning. Unfortunately, Tesla's driving wheel simply doesn't vibrate hard enough for me. Not sure if I could wake up from that vibration. But even that, I have tried to convince myself that it's okay to let go that one (lane departure warning).


I mean no offense by this, but if you are prone to falling asleep at the wheel you should not be driving a car. There is no car that's 100% and to that extent you are endangering yourself and everyone around you.


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

By the way, I'm not talking about AEB. I was told that if AEB ever gets triggerred, in all likelihood, Tesla car will crash. AEB only reduces the colission impact, or that's what I was told by the salesman.

I appreciate if you guys could "test" EARLY forward collision warning a little bit, and see if it beeps at all, not under Auto-pilot mode, and not with single pedal mode, or at least that's how I've test drove it. If it feels somewhat scary, it "should be" also to Tesla's computer algorithm.

And I understand that it's not "professional" for me to drive with the intent to crash. But having fallen asleep for probably 10 times in the past, I would rather attempt to crash a car, while I'm fully alert and can totally avoid the crash. Next time, if I am in the same situation, falling asleep on freeway, I can literally die, and at that point, to find out that the forward collision warning doesn't work, is simply TOO LATE. It's far better to find out how things work, when I'm still alive.

I do know that with Tesla, I would have the option to put the car into Auto-pilot mode. The only problem is that if I do that, the likelihood of me falling asleep is much greater, not less, due to much less interactions with driving. It's kind of playing with chance. What's the chance of me falling asleep in Auto-pilot mode, multiplied with the chance of Tesla auto-pilot mode, not hitting any freeway divider/anything, or what's the chance of me falling asleep in non-AP mode, and get woken up by the warning systems if I do falling asleep. Ideally, I want to maximize the chance of survival.

And of course, if I know that I would have fallen asleep like that, I would have never driven. Falling asleep is INvoluntary, and I cannot predict that ahead of time before I begin a long trip.

Anyway, I'm not a troll. I just want a good car to prevent any potential crash.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

yh68l said:


> I appreciate if you guys could "test" EARLY forward collision warning a little bit, and see if it beeps at all, not under Auto-pilot mode, and not with single pedal mode, or at least that's how I've test drove it.


There is no such thing as single pedal mode. Forward collision warning works for me on the default setting.


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

I had to set the forward collision warning to the least sensitive position on my Model 3 because it was going off when I had plenty of time to stop. My wife's Model 3 is set to Medium sensitivity and when I drive it it still goes off occasionally when it's not necessary.

I have to agree with @SoFlaModel3 , if you have a history of falling asleep on the freeway you really shouldn't be driving a car on public freeways (until Full Self-Driving is approved). Someone could very easily die the next time it happens.

However, I fully support your hobby of scaring the living bejesus out of car salesmen, most of them deserve a little punishment now and again!


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> You'll have to forgive me if I have misunderstood something, but read your first post again. I have quoted below...
> 
> As for this...
> 
> I mean no offense by this, but if you are prone to falling asleep at the wheel you should not be driving a car. There is no car that's 100% and to that extent you are endangering yourself and everyone around you.


I TRY my best not to drive when I think I am prone to falling asleep, and pull over immediately. Again, I can only take so many precautions to prevent, but THE PROCESS is involuntary, and I just WANT my car to help me in the cases where I fail.

And it's not like I "enjoy" waking up in panic from my driving. I absolutely hate that to find out that I was sleeping for X number of seconds at a speed of more than 70 miles/hr. It is a terrifying experience, and I have been lucky to escape death in the past. But next time if it ever happens again, there is no guarantee of the good luck.


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

iChris93 said:


> There is no such thing as single pedal mode. Forward collision warning works for me on the default setting.


I'm very puzzled. I tried 3 cars at dealer, and 1 car from my co-worker (which was already 1 year old model3). None of them really worked when I tested. Aren't they all calibrated? The salesman couldn't give me any explanations of why forward collision warnings didn't work.

Ok, your reply gives me a little bit more confidence. I'm going back to dealership and test drive more, or ASK them to try it out for me. And yes, I do NOT enjoy the experience of crashing the front car AT ALL. If there is any damage, I will need to pay them out of my pocket very likely.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

yh68l said:


> I'm very puzzled. I tried 3 cars at dealer, and 1 car from my co-worker (which was already 1 year old model3). None of them really worked when I tested. Aren't they all calibrated? The salesman couldn't give me any explanations of why forward collision warnings didn't work.
> 
> Ok, your reply gives me a little bit more confidence. I'm going back to dealership and test drive more, or ASK them to try it out for me. And yes, I do NOT enjoy the experience of crashing the front car AT ALL. If there is any damage, I will need to pay them out of my pocket very likely.


In my experience, you have to be on the accelerator to get the warning. If you're coasting, or let off, I think the car thinks you have the situation under control.


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

yh68l said:


> The salesman couldn't give me any explanations of why forward collision warnings didn't work.


The last thing a salesman is going to say in that situation is "Well, it would work but I noticed your foot covering the brake was lightly touching the brake pedal" or "You just didn't come close enough to a collision to set off the warning"!

He would be crazy to egg you on. Just as all of us are who are replying to you.


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

iChris93 said:


> In my experience, you have to be on the accelerator to get the warning. If you're coasting, or let off, I think the car thinks you have the situation under control.


Okay, so I literally need to accelerate to get it triggered then. That is scary. That is probably why it never worked for me.

That doesn't work very well for a sleeping/driving person either. At best, that person would apply and maintain the same pressure on the pedal, which would be coasting.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

yh68l said:


> Okay, so I literally need to accelerate to get it triggered then. That is scary. That is probably why it never worked for me.
> 
> That doesn't work very well for a sleeping/driving person either. At best, that person would apply and maintain the same pressure on the pedal, which would be coasting.


I don't know if you need to be accelerating, but you need to be maintaining your speed.

When I get the most false warning is driving through neighborhoods with cars parked on the side of the road.


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

PNWmisty said:


> The last thing a salesman is going to say in that situation is "Well, it would work but I noticed your foot covering the brake was lightly touching the brake pedal" or "You just didn't come close enough to a collision to set off the warning"!
> 
> He would be crazy to egg you on. Just as all of us are who are replying to you.


I'm very sure that I wasn't pressing brake at all, when I was expecting the alert beep.

But anyway, if it's scary for human, I would think that algorithms should be designed such that it should alert on scary situations no matter what, with the option to turn it off (which you can turn off for Tesla).

I will go back and test again. I need to know exactly how it works, and then decide on whether it can fit my need.

The salesman won't be happy for sure, or they can drive and demo it for me.


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

iChris93 said:


> I don't know if you need to be accelerating, but you need to be maintaining your speed.
> 
> When I get the most false warning is driving through neighborhoods with cars parked on the side of the road.


Thanks for the tip.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

yh68l said:


> And of course, if I know that I would have fallen asleep like that, I would have never driven. Falling asleep is INvoluntary, and I cannot predict that ahead of time before I begin a long trip.
> 
> Anyway, I'm not a troll. I just want a good car to prevent any potential crash.


Again I mean no offense in my reply here, but this is an incredibly serious matter. If falling asleep behind the wheel is involuntary for you and has happened at least 10 times (that you're aware of) then you should not be licensed to drive a car. What we all do with our own lives is our business and our business alone, but you are jeopardizing the lives of everyone around you when you take that chance. I wish you the best and in truly meaning that my recommendations are as follows:

Before Level 5 Autonomy is real you should exclusively use a car service, friends or family, Uber, Lyft, Taxi, Bus, etc.

Once Level 5 Autonomy is a real thing, get a Tesla and love the hell out of it! That will be a game changer for you.


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## BluestarE3 (Oct 12, 2017)

iChris93 said:


> I don't know if you need to be accelerating, but you need to be maintaining your speed.
> 
> When I get the most false warning is driving through neighborhoods with cars parked on the side of the road.


Those are the only times I've received the warning. The first few times, my wife is startled and I'm puzzled by the alarm going off when there's no other moving vehicles on the street and nothing immediately in front of us with which to potentially collide. Hopefully, I won't get to the point where I'm so jaded by these false alarms that I'll ignore them completely.


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> Again I mean no offense in my reply here, but this is an incredibly serious matter. If falling asleep behind the wheel is involuntary for you and has happened at least 10 times (that you're aware of) then you should not be licensed to drive a car. What we all do with our own lives is our business and our business alone, but you are jeopardizing the lives of everyone around you when you take that chance. I wish you the best and in truly meaning that my recommendations are as follows:
> 
> Before Level 5 Autonomy is real you should exclusively use a car service, friends or family, Uber, Lyft, Taxi, Bus, etc.
> 
> Once Level 5 Autonomy is a real thing, get a Tesla and love the hell out of it! That will be a game changer for you.


I'm afraid it's becoming painfully obvious that the situation here is carefully crafted to get the maximum rise out of the maximum number of people and thus keep the negative sounding title of this thread at the top of the "active" list for as much exposure as possible. Seriously, we have to either believe that this whole situation is fabricated or that the OP is so stupid they would actually take a freeway trip while being fully aware they have no control whether they will fall asleep or not. And I don't believe the OP is stupid, that is just too far of a stretch for my imagination. That leaves the first option (which is fabrication) as the only reasonable interpretation. Given the situation presented, I can't think of any other reasonable interpretation. It's one or the other. No matter how much the OP protests that he's being sincere.

At this point in time, there is not a single car on the market that would be safe for someone with such a condition to drive on a trip. When I say "safe" I mean for the driver or for the rest of the motoring public.


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## BluestarE3 (Oct 12, 2017)

SoFlaModel3 said:


> Again I mean no offense in my reply here, but this is an incredibly serious matter. If falling asleep behind the wheel is involuntary for you and has happened at least 10 times (that you're aware of) then you should not be licensed to drive a car. What we all do with our own lives is our business and our business alone, but you are jeopardizing the lives of everyone around you when you take that chance. I wish you the best and in truly meaning that my recommendations are as follows:
> 
> Before Level 5 Autonomy is real you should exclusively use a car service, friends or family, Uber, Lyft, Taxi, Bus, etc.
> 
> Once Level 5 Autonomy is a real thing, get a Tesla and love the hell out of it! That will be a game changer for you.


I'd also suggest getting tested for a potential sleeping disorder, especially if you're also nodding off at other times during the day or not getting enough continuous, restful sleep at night. You should not be relying on a vehicle to mitigate the effects of a possible underlying medical condition. I know this is just "Internet advice", but please get a professional medical evaluation, if not for yourself, then for the sake of your family and those around you.


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## Long Ranger (Jun 1, 2018)

iChris93 said:


> I don't know if you need to be accelerating, but you need to be maintaining your speed.


This is what I've observed. I've been really impressed with the collision warning. If you're already slowing, then it doesn't go off needlessly. But if you haven't taken any action, then it's very good at warning you to pay attention.

I have mine set to Early, and it's gone off a couple times when I thought it was a bit premature, but not enough for me to consider changing the setting. Generally, when it goes off, I'm momentarily looking at the touchscreen when the car in front is braking. Haven't had any situations yet where I really needed it, but I feel it's done a really nice job of giving me a heads up that the car in front is braking.

It also might be better at warning that traffic you are following has suddenly slowed, rather than warning you about stopped cars ahead that you are approaching at speed, but I haven't tried the latter.


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## yh68l (May 10, 2019)

PNWmisty said:


> I'm afraid it's becoming painfully obvious that the situation here is carefully crafted to get the maximum rise out of the maximum number of people and thus keep the negative sounding title of this thread at the top of the "active" list for as much exposure as possible. Seriously, we have to either believe that this whole situation is fabricated or that the OP is so stupid they would actually take a freeway trip while being fully aware they have no control whether they will fall asleep or not. And I don't believe the OP is stupid, that is just too far of a stretch for my imagination. That leaves the first option (which is fabrication) as the only reasonable interpretation. Given the situation presented, I can't think of any other reasonable interpretation. It's one or the other. No matter how much the OP protests that he's being sincere.
> 
> At this point in time, there is not a single car on the market that would be safe for someone with such a condition to drive on a trip. When I say "safe" I mean for the driver or for the rest of the motoring public.


Falling asleep is one of the common causes for car accident. It is happening for MANY people, not just me.

https://www.edwardspattersonlaw.com/blog/falling-asleep-while-driving/

There is no way that anyone can live a life without driving. You just try to mitigate the risk as much as possible, like you cannot prevent heart-attack while you're driving.

I nod off if I'm not getting enough sleep, and I almost never nod off for a drive less than 1 hour. Nobody wants to die or kill anybody here. Why is it so hard to believe? When I take the driving wheel, I obviously think that I'm not sleepy. Why would I want to kill myself?

I just said that I tried car crashing and that worked for three other cars (Nissan, Honda, Toyota), but did not work for Tesla, THE WAY that I tested.

I did not say that my way of testing is the correct way of the testing. There is no right or wrong here, but just whether different car can service different needs.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

yh68l said:


> Falling asleep is one of the common causes for car accident. It is happening for MANY people, not just me.
> 
> https://www.edwardspattersonlaw.com/blog/falling-asleep-while-driving/
> 
> ...


Pointing to other people that have done something wrong does not reduce the nature of doing something wrong yourself. Assuming you do not have a sleeping disorder, then you're ultimately subjecting yourself to driving when tired. Again, this is incredibly dangerous. This is on the level with texting and driving or drinking and driving. You're subjecting yourself, your passengers, and all of those around you on the road to unsafe conditions.

It's really simple -- if you're tired, just don't drive. You're not going to find a car on the market today that is safe to drive when you're tired because it doesn't exist.

Just plan better -- take an Uber if it's a late night. There is no excuse for the reckless nonsense that has been described in this thread.


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## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

Something about this thread and the thought of test driving a car like this or getting behind the wheel with a known health issue that could cause problems, just scares the crap out of me and truly makes me scratch my head. Please stay off the road and check back when FSD is available and implemented.


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