Tesla owner says Autopilot saved him from crash unknowingly until checking dashcam

A Tesla owner believed that his Autopilot system was malfunctioning in the rain when it abruptly moved into another lane only to find out later by reviewing the dashcam content that it might have saved him from a crash.

Model 3 owner Jeff McQuinn explained what happened when he was driving on the highway in heavy rain:

“My Tesla Model 3 was only 2 days old and it saved me from getting sideswiped in the moderately heavy rain. I first thought there was something wrong with my car or Autopilot was not working well in the rain when it swerved hard into the other lane. It gave all the warnings but I thought maybe rain go onto the camera lens. It wasn’t until I looked at the dash cam that [I realized] it saved me a moderate accident.”

Here’s the dashcam video that shows a truck swerving into the Model 3’s lane before moving away:

https://youtu.be/uVdVuYPvQ9s?t=32

Recently, there have been an increased number of Tesla owners reporting Autopilot, or more specifically active safety features powered by Autopilot, avoiding crashes by doing some impressively aggressive evasive maneuvers.

A Tesla Model 3 owner claimed ‘Autopilot saved his life’ by swerving away in a near-miss on the highway and another similar incident was also caught on video just a few months ago.

Earlier this month, another Tesla owner claimed Autopilot made an impressive maneuver caught on video to avoid a crash.

Electrek’s Take

I am increasingly believing that Autopilot is actually responsible for these impressive side collision avoidance maneuvers.

My understanding was that the system has limitations when it comes to making aggressive steering maneuvers like those for safety reasons, but recently, we have seen many owners report similar situations.

While I think it’s not unusual for Tesla owners to misattribute moves to Autopilot, I think it’s becoming more likely that the driver assist system is indeed responsible.

Either way, it’s still important to remain vigilant and always be ready to take control when using Tesla Autopilot features.