Tesla FSD Ran A Red Light?! My Shocking First-Day Experience

Hey guys,

So, I just got my Tesla, and I was super excited to try out the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature. But, on my very first day, something pretty concerning happened. The car straight-up ran a red light! I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, and honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

My First FSD Experience: A Red Light Nightmare

I was driving in a fairly familiar area, a place where I've driven countless times before. The conditions were clear – broad daylight, good visibility, and no unusual traffic patterns. I engaged FSD, feeling a mix of excitement and slight nervousness, as you might expect. The car navigated the initial part of the drive smoothly, handling lane changes and turns without any issues. I started to relax, thinking, "Wow, this is actually pretty cool!"

Then, we approached an intersection with a traffic light. As we got closer, the light turned yellow, and I fully expected the car to slow down and stop. But it didn't. It just kept going. My heart started racing as I realized what was happening. The light turned red, and the car was still accelerating. I instinctively slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding a potentially serious collision. It was a terrifying experience, to say the least.

After the incident, I immediately disengaged FSD and drove the rest of the way manually. I was shaken and couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. What if I hadn't been paying attention? What if there had been a car speeding through the intersection? The consequences could have been devastating. I know FSD is still in beta, but this felt like a major failure, and it's definitely made me question my trust in the system.

Diving Deep into FSD: Understanding the Tech and Its Limitations

Full Self-Driving (FSD) is Tesla's advanced driver-assistance system, designed to automate many driving tasks, such as navigating city streets, changing lanes, and even handling complex intersections. It uses a combination of cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors to perceive its surroundings and make driving decisions. The system is constantly learning and improving based on the vast amount of data collected from Tesla vehicles on the road. This data is used to train neural networks, which are the core of FSD's decision-making process. The goal is to create a system that can eventually handle all driving tasks without human intervention, making driving safer and more convenient.

However, it's crucial to understand that FSD is not yet fully autonomous. It's still in beta, which means it's under development and being tested in real-world conditions. Tesla emphasizes that drivers must remain attentive and ready to take control at any time. This is because the system is not perfect and can make mistakes, as I unfortunately experienced firsthand. There are several reasons why FSD might make errors. The system might misinterpret complex or unusual situations, such as unexpected road closures, construction zones, or challenging weather conditions. It can also struggle with situations that it hasn't encountered frequently in its training data. This is why human oversight is so important.

My experience highlights the importance of staying vigilant even when using FSD. It's easy to become complacent and trust the system, especially after it performs well for a while. But the reality is that FSD is still a work in progress, and it's not yet capable of handling every driving scenario flawlessly. Drivers need to remain aware of their surroundings, monitor the car's actions, and be prepared to intervene if necessary. This means keeping your hands on the wheel, your eyes on the road, and your mind focused on the task of driving. Think of FSD as a helpful assistant, not a replacement for a human driver.

Why Did FSD Run the Red Light? Potential Reasons and System Quirks

Trying to understand why FSD ran the red light, I've been doing a bit of research and thinking about the situation. There could be several explanations for what happened. One possibility is that the system misidentified the traffic light or failed to recognize its color. This could be due to a temporary glitch in the software, a problem with the camera sensors, or even something as simple as a glare on the lens. FSD relies on its cameras to