Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/20/tesla-avoids-accident.html
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Musk needs to add that feature to his Twitter app.
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Doesn’t appear that the break lights come on till after the car is near the front quarter of the car. Not particularly impressed. Also the car goes left at the last minute. Not sure there was a collision possible.
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Timing is pretty clear that the Tesla brakes just about the exact moment the car crosses it’s path. So if the Tesla had actually been in front of it, it would’ve been struck.
That green light reaction time was slow… I’d either have cleared the path of the red light runner or been squarely hit in the side.
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Looks a little earlier in slow motion.
Can’t tell if the Tesla auto breaked, or if the driver caught some motion and hit the break. Either way, lucky for them. It feels like it would have been worse for the car than it was for the truck, and it wasn’t pleasant for the truck either.
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Dang what a potentially horrific accident. I mean I’ve made some orange lights in my day but WTF, that guy plowed through a full 4 seconds after it turned red. Get that person off the road.
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Wow, that was quite a red light to try to run. A half second later it would have been a T-Bone.
Also - that guy’s sigh. That’s my life…
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Do we know where this was, roughly?
As a broad generality over the years, I’ve noticed that in different locales there are different customs for when the light turns green.
In CT, when the light turns green, nobody moves for a 2 count. Frequently, someone runs the red in that time too.
In NJ, when the light turns green, the first 3 cars in line all floor it.
Trouble occurs when a NJ driver is in CT and second in line. The light turns green, they floor it and immediately slam the breaks to avoid rear ending the car in front that didn’t move an inch. 
Everytime we move states, it takes a few months to figure out what the local custom is.
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It’s after the collision, so it would be impossible to tell from this video. Given the slow start from the green the driver could have easily been keeping an eye on a car to his left. You can see the lights are still off just before the collision but while the car is in the same position:
I think some of that also depends on knowing the lights, if an intersection is known to be all-red for a second or two people will tend take that into account as well.
In CT, when the light turns green, nobody moves for a 2 count and everyone behind you starts honking to remind you that the light is green.
FTFY
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Nope, autopilot had nothing to do with it.
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The Tbone is the scariest type of accident. So random. I’d like to think that I’m aware enough of my periphery to guard against it, but I think this one would have got me. With the cars on the far side advancing forward, it seemed like a safe intersection to go through.
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Which car in the shot has the Tesla logo on it? The one with the camera that is doing 4 MPH?
The car in shot that has the Tesla logo on it.
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This is true. Even in NC different areas have different red to green cycle times.
I’m a little more aggressive on that green light take off, but I’d certainly adapt depending on the area.
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Yeah, but fucken’ e-scooters, eh?
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These are the breaks.
ETA: I see the OP has been quietly updated. It is no longer the “breaks.”
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Plenty of cars these days have automatic pre-collision braking for scenarios like this. Don’t all line up to heap praise on Musk.
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