Tesla Autopilot Traffic Light And Stop Sign Control: First Look At Public Release In Action

After spending some time in Tesla’s Early Access Program, the electric car maker’s Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control feature has started rolling out for a public release. While a recent real-world test shows that the feature still has considerable areas for improvement, it is evident that the newly-released feature will likely be one of Tesla’s most important ones to date.

Tesla owner-enthusiast Chris, from the YouTube channel Dirty Tesla, recently received Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control for his Model 3. And true to form, the YouTube host decided to test Tesla’s public release features in real-world settings. Chris took his Model 3 through a variety of locations, from inner-city roads, double intersections, private lots, freeways, and even backroads. The results of the test were quite interesting, to say the least.

Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control worked well for the most part, detecting stop signs in an ample manner and slowing down the vehicle around 600ft away from the actual stop sign. Navigating with the feature on the freeway was also relatively easy, with the Model 3 operating smoothly provided that the driver confirmed a green light maneuver.

However, the newly released feature still had room for improvement. Double stop signs seemed to confuse the function, and a bridge in the freeway also triggered some deceleration. These quirks should be addressed in subsequent updates to the feature, some of which would likely be released within the next few weeks.

True to Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control’s Release Notes, Dirty Tesla’s test determined that the feature does keep a very close watch on the speed limit in designated area. This is likely an extra safety precaution on Tesla’s part, especially since the feature is still in the process of being optimized.

It should be noted that the current iteration of Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control could only get better. Real-world driving data from the public release of the feature will be used by Tesla to train its neural networks, which will only make the capability more accurate. The same was true when Tesla rolled out Navigate on Autopilot with automatic lane changes. It was prone to errors in the beginning, but through constant updates and optimizations, the capability just got better and better. 

Featured Image Credit: Dirty Tesla/YouTube