Posted on 05/25/2026 5:36:58 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Today I had the experience of driving for an extended period behind a Tesla. One of my daughters was with me. We were in a rural area of upstate New York, on a two-lane road with enough curves and oncoming traffic that there were few opportunities to pass. So we were behind this car for about 20 miles. We took the opportunity to observe some things about how the new world works.
Living in Manhattan, we don’t go out for extended drives in the country all that often. Maybe most readers here drive much more than I do and have had experiences like the one I am about to describe. But this was new to me.
The Tesla that we were following was a white sedan. We didn’t get a photo, but the car looked very much like the one in this picture below (the difference being that the picture appears to have been taken in Queens, but we were in a rural area upstate):
In upstate New York, there is a general speed limit of 55 mph where no other limit is specified. And thus 55 was the speed limit for most of our time on this road. As all normal people know, at least in this area, 55 does not really mean 55. The most common speed of traffic on this road is between 60 and 65, and you will not get a ticket even up to 70. But this Tesla was going exactly 55. Not 56 or 54, but 55.
Then we approached an area with some population and businesses. Heading into that area, the speed limit dropped to 45, although the speed limit sign came several hundred yards before the buildings. Right at the sign, the Tesla slowed down to precisely 45. That’s when my daughter remarked that this car had to be operating in self-driving mode.
Sure enough, right where the speed limit ended, the Tesla went back to exactly 55.
Several miles further on came a zone with a speed limit of 35. The same principles were applied: the car slowed down to exactly 35 at the first speed limit sign, continued at exactly 35 through the zone, and went back to exactly 55 immediately after the zone. Then, after a stretch at 55, there was another short 45 mph zone. Once more, it was the same drill.
Then, back at 55, we could see in the distance a school bus approaching from the opposite direction. Several hundred yards ahead, it stopped. Its red lights began flashing. A “STOP” sign swung out on its driver’s side toward our lane of traffic. Its door opened. There was plenty of time for cars going our direction to stop.
This happened too fast for us to get a picture, but here is a representative image of a school bus looking pretty much like that one, stopped, lights flashing, “STOP” sign perpendicular, and door open:
A couple of little kids came out the door.
And then the Tesla blew by at full speed!
Oops. I guess they haven’t programmed the school bus thing into the operating system just yet. Fortunately the kids weren’t trying to cross the highway at that moment.
By the time the kids had disembarked and the school bus had turned off its flashing lights, the Tesla was far ahead of us. But a few miles further on, we had caught back up, and we soon came to a place where the highway passes an ultra-high-end gated golf community. (For a time, Tom Brady and then-wife Gisele were the most famous owners there.). To our total lack of surprise, the Tesla turned in.
I suppose that the issue of failing to stop for a school bus can be seen as a software glitch that can be easily corrected. Probably, that issue will be corrected in the next update. Maybe it has already been corrected and this particular car just didn’t have the update.
But how about the more general and important issue that this self-driving car mechanically followed rules to the letter without exercising any judgment or considering trade-offs. Can that be corrected? Many may actually not even consider that to be a problem. Shouldn’t everybody obey all rules and regulations, even the most minute and picayune, to the letter?
I consider myself lucky that I am old enough that I don’t have to adapt (much) to the oncoming world of AI and self-driving cars and robots and the like. Young people today are not so lucky.
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Hello and yes that is interesting. How nuanced could it be for the AI to discern? Would it make value judgements involving steeriing the vehicle that avoid the group of people at the expense of crashing the solo vehicle occupant driver? Can that drivewr choose to override the AI in the moment?
I recently had an Uber ride as a passenger in a self driving Tesla. I could clearly see the very large screen. It was amazing. The Driver explained a lot about the many cameras which was very interesting.
IIRC he said that there was one camera looking at him and if he looked down for too long (a very few seconds) he got notified somehow. I forget if it was an alarm or what. Perhaps one of the Tesla owners on this thread can explain that.
The author is a respectable, conservative NY attorney who has argued cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“En route home we had a couple of bicyclers turn right in front us as we turned left at an intersection, and the Tesla handled that quite nicely.”
Did the Tesla blast the horn and give ‘em a Bronx Salute?
No, but it did launch a couple of RPGs that moved them right out of the way.
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