Yeah, I can't even imagine what it would be like to implement a system like that without radar. Tesla's approach would make a good Most Interesting Man In the World meme. "I don't always tackle the hardest engineering problems in human history, such as self-driving cars. But when I do, I tie one hand behind my back, close one eye, and consume some alcohol or drugs first."
One episode per 3000 miles is too many, and that's about what I was seeing before I disabled the feature.
Are you referring to the "gentle slow down" behavior that Autopilot often does or the "slam on the brakes as hard as you can" behavior of Automatic Emergency Braking? I definitely see the former more than once per 3000 miles but it doesn't bother me. I've never seen the latter.
In my vehicle, the 'gentle slow down' part that's associated with the radar-driven auto cruise control usually works OK. I'm referring to false triggering of AEB in completely-inappropriate circumstances when no obstacle is in the car's path.
If someone has built an AEB system with the degree of immunity from false triggers that's needed to make it a net positive for road safety, I haven't seen any evidence yet. Similar complaints across many different car models are widespread.
It definitely is erratic with the speed, speeding up and slowing down slightly, which is annoying, but not so dangerous.
The dangerous parts are driving home from work, 6 miles, at least two very hard brakes each trip with no cars ahead of me (I only made a few trips like this before disabling it).
Automatic emergency braking (with the loud beeps and red message on the screen) on two lane highways, over crests, a myriad of other circumstances.
Musk's obsession with not relying on radar and using only cameras as sensors is nuts and likely a big reason why competitors systems perform so much better. But it seems Tesla has finally backtracked on this
One episode per 3000 miles is too many, and that's about what I was seeing before I disabled the feature.