[News Terms] Tesla 'FSD' Fails to Detect Railroad Crossing Signal

Driving Assistance Requiring Intervention, Not Full Autonomous Driving
Accident Driver: "The Car's Failure to Recognize the Train Is a Bigger Problem"

A video showing a Tesla vehicle driving with its 'FSD (Full-Self Driving)' system activated nearly colliding with a train after failing to detect railroad tracks and a crossing signal ahead has gone viral.

FSD refers to a feature that allows the vehicle to perform all driving tasks without driver intervention. It means the vehicle can fully control driving and safely reach its destination. The term translates to 'complete autonomous driving' in Korean. It uses various sensors such as radar, cameras, and LIDAR to analyze the driving path in real-time and detect the surrounding environment to navigate.

A Tesla model.
Photo by Tesla

Unlike 'ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems),' which assist the driver by automatically performing some driving tasks such as lane keeping assist, parking assist, and automatic emergency braking while the driver controls the vehicle, FSD does not require driver intervention.

The highest level of vehicle autonomy is 'Level 5,' which requires no human intervention. Tesla names its autonomous driving system 'FSD (Full-Self Driving),' but in reality, it is evaluated to be around 'Level 3.' It can perform functions such as lane departure prevention, maintaining distance between vehicles, and highway driving assistance (automatic lane changes and traffic sign recognition). In other words, despite the name 'full self-driving,' it is a driving assistance feature that requires driver intervention.

Tesla also explains on its website, "Your vehicle can drive itself in almost all places with minimal driver intervention and will continue to improve," but adds, "The currently available Autopilot and FSD features require active supervision by the driver and the vehicle does not drive autonomously."

According to NBC News on the 28th (local time), Craig Doty, the driver featured in the recently viral Tesla FSD accident video, stated that there is a problem with Tesla's FSD technology or at least a defect in the FSD software installed in his vehicle.

In Doty's video, a train is crossing the railroad tracks ahead, but the vehicle driving does not slow down and continues forward. Doty, realizing this late, brakes just before colliding with the train and steers to the right, causing the vehicle to hit the crossing gate and stop.

Tesla vehicle in motion.
Photo by Tesla

The video has recorded millions of views online. Doty said the accident occurred on the 8th in Ohio, and at the time, the vehicle was traveling at 60 miles per hour (96 km/h). According to the police accident report, although it was foggy, the vehicle’s black box footage captured the crossing signal’s red light flashing at least 5 seconds before the accident.

Doty said he was using the FSD system at the time and expected the vehicle to stop upon seeing the crossing signal. However, the vehicle charged forward, narrowly avoiding a collision with the train but ultimately crashing into the crossing gate. Doty said, "Since I was the only person in the car, the accident is obviously my fault," but raised his voice, saying, "But I think the bigger problem is that damn car didn’t recognize the train."

The police investigating the accident fined Doty $175 (about 240,000 KRW) for vehicle control failure. Meanwhile, Tesla sells the FSD feature for a one-time payment of $8,000 (about 10.9 million KRW) or as a subscription for $99 per month.