Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

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Chris Bertram
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Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by Chris Bertram »

CGP Grey took his dad's Tesla for a spin over the Dragon's Tail mountain pass from North Carolina to Tennessee. If you think the Cat and Fiddle is dangerous, this is a whole new ball game of danger, and claims lives on a regular basis as well as being the scene of numerous smashes and other accidents. To make it even more interesting, he downloaded Tesla's beta release of their self-driving software and let the car handle the route itself. Enjoy ...

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ChrisH
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by ChrisH »

A beautiful road. Looks like one to drive some day - or perhaps let the car do the driving!
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by Mark Hewitt »

Looks like a typical style of mountain road you would find in Spain. Don't really make them like that here.
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Pendlemac
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

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Mark Hewitt wrote: Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:32 Looks like a typical style of mountain road you would find in Spain. Don't really make them like that here.
Trough of Bowland road or that over the Wrynose and Hard Knott passes spring to mind.

One other is the Stelheimsvegen in Noway which is the old road down from Stalheim towards Gudvangen. That has now been bypassed and made one-way downhill only due to the steepness causing problems for motor vehicles trying to go up it.
bart
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by bart »

It's a fun road although motorbikes kept coming up behind me and I felt I should pull over and let them by because they could go much faster than my poor rental car.
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Alderpoint
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by Alderpoint »

ChrisH wrote: Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:51 A beautiful road. Looks like one to drive some day - or perhaps let the car do the driving!
Looks a pretty normal road really - smooth, reasonably wide, gentle inclines, okay it has a few curves. Some of the more interesting ones in the UK have already been mentioned but this is one of my favourites in Europe - any of those would be a challenge for an auto-driver.
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Peter Freeman
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by Peter Freeman »

Yes, quite a nice little piece of road, but doesn't anyone else find this whole thing rather silly?

The publicity, and the infrastructure and paraphernalia at the start of the road, invite people to indulge in risky behaviour The accident rate is beyond a joke. And to cap it all, our friendly and excited host thinks it's a good place to test autonomous driving.

I'm not impressed by any of it. And I'm glad I'll be past driving before I have to contemplate being at the mercy of Tesla's technology.

This, despite the fact that for the last five years I've really appreciated owning a vehicle with limited - 'level 1' ? - driving assist features such as active lane-keeping.
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by Mark Hewitt »

Pendlemac wrote:
Mark Hewitt wrote: Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:32 Looks like a typical style of mountain road you would find in Spain. Don't really make them like that here.
Trough of Bowland road or that over the Wrynose and Hard Knott passes spring to mind.

One other is the Stelheimsvegen in Noway which is the old road down from Stalheim towards Gudvangen. That has now been bypassed and made one-way downhill only due to the steepness causing problems for motor vehicles trying to go up it.
Not familiar with snow lane but it's not like Wrynose at all. That is single track and very steep. This sort of road is quite different in that it maintains full S2 the entire way but is extremely sinuous and follows every contour but is never really that steep.

I believe at least in Spain they were built with a max grade in mind for horses / early trucks for military purposes.
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by Mark Hewitt »

Alderpoint wrote:
ChrisH wrote: Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:51 A beautiful road. Looks like one to drive some day - or perhaps let the car do the driving!
Looks a pretty normal road really - smooth, reasonably wide, gentle inclines, okay it has a few curves. Some of the more interesting ones in the UK have already been mentioned but this is one of my favourites in Europe - any of those would be a challenge for an auto-driver.
Yes I got the impression on watching the video that this kind of road is rather unusual in America.

Whereas just look at the Ma-10 in Mallorca or any number of other similar roads in Europe.

I guess the equivalent in the UK is Snake Pass or the road to Helmsley as have a reputation for motorcyclists and an accident rate to match.
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by Nwallace »

Judging by the display its got significant dependence on edge detection, that there was decent lines on the road probably helped massively, and fairly low traffic judging by the lines it took on blind corners.

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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by 2 Sheds »

Nwallace wrote: Fri Dec 17, 2021 00:21 Judging by the display its got significant dependence on edge detection, that there was decent lines on the road probably helped massively, and fairly low traffic judging by the lines it took on blind corners.

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Agree with that. Clean painted lines, no mist, rain or even dampness, nothing coming the other way over the centre line, no narrow humped bridges . I don't even recall a side road. It's not the most dangerous road in the world but it probably attracts the most dangerous drivers.
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Re: Tesla autopilot v Dragon's Tail

Post by Nwallace »

Also didn't see the speedo, didn't look all that quick but then...

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