Driving is certainly one of the most personal and dangerous daily things we do. So it’s only understandable that three out of four U.S. drivers say they’d be afraid to be driven by an autonomous vehicle. While carmakers see self-driving cars becoming just as essential as an iPhone, many consumers still consider the rapidly evolving technology as science fiction. In such context, misconceptions can be misleading. That’s why, and to somewhat calm your fears about the driverless technology, here’s a dashcam footage of a Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model X autopilot function predicting a highway collision before it actually happens.
In the video embedded below, first uploaded to Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) by Hans Noordsij, a small red hatchback traveling down the A2 highway in the Netherlands can be seen attempting to overtake a black SUV. But even before the two make contact, Model X’s Autopilot Forward Collision Warning, thanks to new radar processing technology that has the ability to “bounce” – in other words, not only see what is directly in front of it, but also through two cars traveling directly ahead, sends out a beeping alert for seemingly no apparent reason. Only a fraction of a second later the crash occurs. What this suggests is that basically the radar may have detected the SUV slamming on its brakes, even though the hatchback did not brake.
Noordsij noted that the Autopilot started braking before he could apply the brakes himself.
What’s really impressive about the clip is that the car’s Autopilot software senses anomaly ahead of time and before anything of note becomes visible from the driver’s perspective.
It should be noted that this does not mean Tesla’s Autopilot has psychic abilities, but in this case it got very close to being one as it clearly helped the driver avoid trouble.
The Tesla owner also reported that everyone involved in the accident “turned out to be ok” despite the fact that the collision prompted the SUV to roll over.
On a separate news, Tesla stock advance continues even as the name becomes the second most shorted Nas 100 Component, replacing Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI). The issue has gained 11.63% in the last 4 weeks and 6.67% in the past three months. Over the past 5 trading sessions the stock has gained 8.29%.
Tesla has a beta of 1.29 and a short float of 35.4 million. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Palo Alto, California-based electric car maker have traded between a low of $141.05 and a high of $269.34 and are now at $219.95.
Shares are down 4.11% year-over-year and 8.53% year-to-date.
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