Eight-car Thanksgiving pileup blamed on Tesla “Full Self-Driving” software

arstechnica.com

13 points·ProAm··4 comments

The accident sounds as though it occurred because the Tesla slowed to 20mph on the highway.

So, while not ideal, some of the accident blame is on 7 cars following too closely.

Generally speaking, public road drivers should be following at a distance that the car in front of you should be able to catastrophically stop (tire explosion, suspension failure, drivetrain failure, driver heart attack, or sudden accident, or more simply out of gas)

Dang, but we should all be preaching safe following distance (at least 3 seconds or 8 [or whatever ${x} car lengths]) a lot more. It's basically the easiest and most 'bang for your buck' way to be safer in a vehicle.

But it's tragedy of the commons - if you actually do follow a safe distance people get SO pissed off. They'll honk, pass you, and cut you off and everything else - give you the finger. This is my experience at least. Larger following distance is especially "handy" when driving in bumper to bumper traffic (more so with a manual) as well because you can maintain a more contstant speed - essentially modulating the traffic jam. People still get pissed off though and will cut you off to get somewhere a second faster.

End rant - but I'm just happy to see someone calling out the importance of safe following distance.

I wish cops would crack down on this more but in my experience they're often guilty of tailgating as well

And if you keep a safe distance someone else will immediately plug the hole halving that distance forcing you to back off further etc.

> So, while not ideal, some of the accident blame is on 7 cars following too closely.

According to the police report, the Tesla - its driver or its FSD feature - made "an unsafe lane change" immediately prior to slamming on the brakes.

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