Tesla’s Full Self-Driving cars had a habit of driving into the path of oncoming trains.
Or should we say that they have a bad habit, because despite Tesla promising to patch these kinds of issues, it’s apparently still happening with the most advanced versions of its self-driving tech to date.
In a dashcam video spotted by Electrek, a Tesla running FSD v14.3.7, the newest update available, pulls up to an active railroad crossing with flashing red lights. Despite appearing to stop at first, it then suddenly accelerates towards the tracks before the driver manually hits the brakes. Seconds later, a huge freight trains barrels across the screen.
The footage was taken by Lei Xing, an auto journalist who covers China’s EV industry.
“Would have been ran over by the [train] had I not braked,” Xing wrote in a post. “The railroad crossing lights were flashing and the train horns were pretty loud.”
Xing also posted another video taken by the car’s rear-facing right pillar camera. The train is obscured by brush as the car slows down, and emerges into view right as it begins to accelerate again — though the software still had ample time to react instead of pushing forward, not to mention take heed of the flashing railroad crossing signs.
Xing confirmed his car was running FSD 14.3.7, which is noteworthy. As Electrek explains, Tesla released FSD v14.3 earlier this year claiming that it improved handling “rare and unusual objects extending, hanging, or leaning into the vehicle path,” which should include a moving train. That was seven versions ago.
Those changes came after significant media attention over self-driving Teslas going haywire near railroad crossings. In March, one slammed into the barrier arms at a crossing after making no attempt to slow down. Another, without warning, drove straight into a crossing while waiting for a train to pass. And another self-driving Tesla was actually struck by a train after it turned onto the tracks.
Regulators took notice. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approached Tesla about the issue in September when NBC News published an investigation into the accidents. The next month, it launched a probe into the automaker after receiving 58 reports of a Tesla running FSD appearing to violate traffic laws. The agency explicitly noted that it would review FSD behavior when approaching railroad crossings part of its probe.
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