Hacker News Reader

Comment by WanderPanda | Hacker News Reader

Mechanically sure, but I still feel way safer when a Tesla (of any kind) is approaching me as a pedestrian or bicyclist than any other vehicle (except maybe Waymo) because I know they will alert the driver and brake if necessary. Any other car, especially older trucks, I'm quite afraid of, based on experience.

View on HN

> because I know they will alert the driver and brake if necessary.

This is not necessarily accurate.

https://x.com/TaylorOgan/status/1681240264554209281 ("Warning: Graphic; Last month, a 76-year-old pedestrian was tragically mowed down by a Tesla Model S in Brooklyn, NY. Both of his legs were torn off, according to witnesses. New data from the NHTSA says the Tesla was engaged on Autopilot/Full Self-Driving mode.")

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/model-y-doesnt-stop-...

https://www.tesladeaths.com/

I own several Teslas, would not trust them to stop for a pedestrian while in any driver assist mode. It may work, but if you rely on it, be prepared for consequences when it fails, as you are the responsible party when it fails.

That first crash sure doesn't sound like Autopilot/FSD, given that the car kept going after the crash.

Tesla is currently renting vehicles for $60/day due to diminished demand; if one would like to test this personally, the cost is minimal. Avoid bodily injury whenever possible during testing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coeaqdexknE

https://electrek.co/2025/11/10/tesla-cant-sell-cars-so-renti...

Edit: @romaaeterna Are you willing to stand in front of it while it is at speed without a safety driver? I am trying to reconcile the mental model with risk appetite and potential gaps between priors and current state.

I have a Tesla and a drive FSD back and forth to work every day. It's great

Edit in response to your edit:

Would I risk myself standing in front of a FSD Tesla versus in front of an Uber or an average human-controlled car with the standard percentage chance of the human texting or being otherwise distracted or drunk or tired? I would take FSD. And I think that a mathematical rather than emotional evaluation of the odds would make risk-minded people do the same.

Hopefully not anywhere near me. My family needs me.

You would need to compare the data against the data of non-smart trucks. I'm guessing it's an order of magnitude more dangerous to be a pedestrian around a normal truck.

Automatic emergency braking is a standard feature on many new cars, and will be mandatory for all new passenger cars and light trucks in the U.S. by September 2029. I am open to the assertion that Tesla's AEB, when scoped to pedestrian scenarios, is superior to other AEB systems, but this assertion requires independently verified data and evidence for support.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/automatic-em...

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/aeb-with-ped...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_emergency_braking_sy...

https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2024-04/final-ru... [pdf]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a63027394/feds-automated-e...

Dumb trucks don't encourage their drivers to turn their brains off.

In my experience, Tesla drivers are some of the worst drivers on the road. They seem to pay the least attention to what's going on around them and are the most likely to pay fast and loose with the rules of the road. I don't know what's to account for this. There has been at least one study out of Berkeley that suggests that people who drive more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road. It's possible that (at least here in Seattle), this is more likely to be the driver's first car since many people driving them are highly paid tech workers who often hail from others countries and who may not have as good of a grasp of driving in the US. Or it may be that this is enabled by autopilot itself (if your car is taking care of the safety you don't have to pay as much attention).

The last reason is the biggest imo. Previously if you didn't pay attention you would crash relatively often. Now you aren't punished in the same way. In the same way spell check made us worse spellers. You aren't required to pay attention to detail, so you never develop that skill.

I taught my kids to drive both manuals and automatics. Usually we got the hang of driving an automatic, and then added manual in to the mix.

But with one of my kids, it was exactly as above. They scared the crap out of me, because they just would not focus well enough. We transitioned to a manual so that they were required to focus on the task at hand, and they then turned into a good driver.

(Aside: my kids, now college+ age have all gotten great deals on cars on college budgets, because they were willing to take a manual that cost far less due to reduced demand).

> There has been at least one study out of Berkeley that suggests that people who drive more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road.

In Germany, we have a joke - BMWs don't need turn signal indicators, they have built-in precedence that comes with paying the money one needs to have to afford a BMW.

Who needs Fahrvergnügen when you can have Bezahltumvorfahrtsgefühligkeitsrechtserwartung (Paid-for-precedence-feeling-of-entitlement-expectation)?

Totally forgot about that. It's been decades since I've seen a far fig Newtons commercial.

May be misplaced considering Teslas have hit pedestrians. Additionally, many cars have pedestrian/object collision detection.

Virtually every car made in the past 5-10 years emergency brakes. I mean, modern Honda's have the same level of autonomous driving as Teslas.

Are collision avoidance system and automated emergency braking not standard in the US? Here in Switzerland basically every new vehicle has them.

Given the amount of pedestrians that have been killed by Telsas in "autopilot" mode, I can't say that I agree.

Could you give me some numbers about deaths caused by Tesla versus other brands per mile driven? It seems to be very difficult to find enough information to draw any conclusions.

I believe the only information is crowd-sourced:

About: https://electrek.co/2025/02/06/elon-musk-approved-tesla-full...

Actual data: https://teslafsdtracker.com/

As a motorcyclist I feel far less safe when one is around me.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tesla-fatal-seattle-are...

https://youtu.be/_47utWAoupo?t=16

My Honda has a break alert system.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com