We were driving home from my parents’ house and, like always lately, I had Tesla’s full self-driving turned on. We bought the car a few years ago and I genuinely use FSD everywhere now. The tech is insane and in a lot more than I trust myself.
My daughter in the back was begging for Frosty the Snowman, so instead of just playing it before we pulled out of the driveway (mistake #1), I was distracted scrolling through the screen trying to get the song going for her.
While I was looking up and down between the screen and the road, we rounded a corner. At the time, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. My car just gradually started slowing down. Not a sudden brake. Not a panic stop. Just a smooth, intentional slowdown — like it “knew” something was ahead long before I did.
I looked up, confused why we were decelerating.
It wasn’t until I reviewed the footage later that I saw what had actually happened: a soccer ball shot into the street and a little kid sprinted after it.
I never even saw it in real time.
And that honestly made my stomach drop. A mix of “thank God” and “wow, I should’ve been paying attention.” The kid stopped and looked both ways huge credit to his parents but my car saw all of it before I did.
Moments like this make you think. In the U.S. we lose nearly 40,000 people a year to car accidents. Human error, distraction, reaction time… all the things I was guilty of in that moment. If autonomous systems can reduce that, even a little, that’s life-changing.
I’m disappointed in myself for getting distracted. But I’m also incredibly grateful this technology exists and that it worked exactly how it was supposed to.
Sharing this because it shook me up, and I think it’s a reminder of how quickly things happen and how far this tech has come.
Do you trust self-driving yet? If not have you drove in a self driving car?
And in 20–30 years… will manually driving a car feel like riding a horse and buggy?
a year agoboyd_phil
Terrific self awareness Talbot in a world where driving is still seen as a macho skill
a year agophiljonestriathlon
Genuine Question. Is FSD actually programmed to give cyclists the required 3-4 feet of space when overtaking them. My experience has been that Tesla vehicles pass closer to me than other vehicles. They pass too close almost all the time and I have assumed it’s FSD just saying “nah I’m good, no need to move over ... I will miss the cyclist”. The only time others pass closer is when the driver deliberately buzzes me.
a year agoad.rian3783
You should be paying attention the moment you get in the car not letting a fucking computer drive it
a year agoalexpeeler_
I know that street far too well! OG fountain kids, the good ole days. @talbotcox
a year agob.stewart04
I Use fsd 90% of time. I take over in tricky situations and parking lots. For roads trips its so good. Just supervise it while it dances through traffic
a year agojordanschiller
yes, i have the ct and has full self driving while working on my comp, its 1000% super safe and better than humans.
a year agomarkok911
It’s great unless it kills you. Many examples everywhere online. The problem is that people try it for 5 minutes, see how great it is, relax and do not look at what’s happening around them anymore.
a year agothemountainsun
I honestly think FSD may be more trustworthy that a human as someone that lost my father (killed while he was cycling) to a blind, yes blind person driving a heavy duty truck that plowed into my dad cycling on a wide- open barely used road. This technology should be required on all new cars.
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