A driver in a Tesla vehicle that was allegedly in driver-assist mode crashed into a Texas house Friday night, killing a woman who was inside the home, investigators said.
I get it. I can’t say I’ve ever mashed the gas, but I’ve had some interesting mixups over the years and vehicles. Usually it’s harmless like hopping in an automatic and stomping the nonexistent clutch to start the engine or panic brake. But, that being said, as I keep seeing my rental vehicles getting more and more complicated and overbearing, I genuinely appreciate have 2 pedals to, more or less, stop the vehicle. Just throw two feet at the problem and at the very least, you won’t accelerate to 73mph in a residential. Plus my bench seat pickup has a foot-operated parking brake, meaning 3 out of 4 pedals available will slow the vehicle. (that 4-pedal truck gives good laughs to my niece who competently uses one-pedal regen mode in an EV)
Not trying to be a manual elitist. I had automatics exclusively for the first 10 years and the brake pedal worked just fine. I’ve experienced events where I was shifted din my seat and my physical register to the floor was misaligned, causing inaccurate pedal action. Usually just kissing the brake when meaning to mash the gas. I’m probably just mildly venting, having just come back from a trip involving a 2026 rental with suicidal lane-keep, shadow-sensitive auto brake, multi-tap touchscreen hvac, and the physical volume knob (good) on the passenger side (bad). First day back today and had a lovely drive with my 25 year old base model utility vehicle.
I don’t know. I’m sure there’s a net benefit to saving lives but at the cost of increased incidents and reduced driver skill. I think adaptive cruise/guided steering is a little too far (and “full” self driving way too far for the current tech). My father thought ABS and basic cruise was too numbing. His father thought automatics were too disconnected. His father probably disliked foot controls or electric starters or something. And his father probably thought the loss of knowledge of horse maintenance was over the line. [shakes fist at clouds]
I’ve only done it once, but I got saved by being on a hill while parking. I had wanted the hill to let me roll back a little bit and I was going to stop it with the brake, but instead I lurched forward because I hit the accelerator. Given I was on a hill though my mistake had to work against the uphill and I didn’t jump up to far before I took my foot off, rolled back a little, and properly braked. It was very strange and confusing in the moment.
I’d be curious how often this happens with basic cruise control on the highways, but (edit: I suspect) highways are more forgiving to the mistake than with something like FSD on windy neighbourhood streets.
I get it. I can’t say I’ve ever mashed the gas, but I’ve had some interesting mixups over the years and vehicles. Usually it’s harmless like hopping in an automatic and stomping the nonexistent clutch to start the engine or panic brake. But, that being said, as I keep seeing my rental vehicles getting more and more complicated and overbearing, I genuinely appreciate have 2 pedals to, more or less, stop the vehicle. Just throw two feet at the problem and at the very least, you won’t accelerate to 73mph in a residential. Plus my bench seat pickup has a foot-operated parking brake, meaning 3 out of 4 pedals available will slow the vehicle. (that 4-pedal truck gives good laughs to my niece who competently uses one-pedal regen mode in an EV)
Not trying to be a manual elitist. I had automatics exclusively for the first 10 years and the brake pedal worked just fine. I’ve experienced events where I was shifted din my seat and my physical register to the floor was misaligned, causing inaccurate pedal action. Usually just kissing the brake when meaning to mash the gas. I’m probably just mildly venting, having just come back from a trip involving a 2026 rental with suicidal lane-keep, shadow-sensitive auto brake, multi-tap touchscreen hvac, and the physical volume knob (good) on the passenger side (bad). First day back today and had a lovely drive with my 25 year old base model utility vehicle.
I don’t know. I’m sure there’s a net benefit to saving lives but at the cost of increased incidents and reduced driver skill. I think adaptive cruise/guided steering is a little too far (and “full” self driving way too far for the current tech). My father thought ABS and basic cruise was too numbing. His father thought automatics were too disconnected. His father probably disliked foot controls or electric starters or something. And his father probably thought the loss of knowledge of horse maintenance was over the line. [shakes fist at clouds]
I’ve only done it once, but I got saved by being on a hill while parking. I had wanted the hill to let me roll back a little bit and I was going to stop it with the brake, but instead I lurched forward because I hit the accelerator. Given I was on a hill though my mistake had to work against the uphill and I didn’t jump up to far before I took my foot off, rolled back a little, and properly braked. It was very strange and confusing in the moment.
I’d be curious how often this happens with basic cruise control on the highways, but (edit: I suspect) highways are more forgiving to the mistake than with something like FSD on windy neighbourhood streets.