Tesla is pushing a new software update to enable cars to automatically proceed through green traffic lights now, without a car ahead of them.
The company added a new function called “Green Traffic Light Chime” recently which triggers a bell to ring every time the traffic light the driver is waiting for turns green. Originally, the chime rang when the leader vehicle began to move forward. When using the “Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control” feature, the vehicle will automatically stop at a red light or stop sign. However, in order for the car to proceed through an intersection, it required drivers to press the stalk or the accelerator as a confirmation.
Now in a new software update (2020.40.1), Tesla is updating its “Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control” feature, removing the lead car requirements. However, the automaker expressed it may not work at all intersections: “As you approach a green traffic light, in some situations where there is a straight path through the intersection, the Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control feature may no longer require explicit driver confirmation. If this occurs, the stop line in the driving visualization will turn green to indicate that the car will continue through an intersection. Confirmation is still required if your car is already stopped at the light when it turns green.”
Tesla also noted that when using ‘Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control’ its remains unable to make turns in intersections, it only allows the vehicles to continue straight ahead “Note: this feature will not turn or attempt to turn through intersections, although over time, as we continue to learn from the fleet, we expect that it will control more naturally. For more information, please refer to the Owner’s Manual.”
As the Next Avenue has reported, Tesla has been hard at work on it Autopilot rewrite. A rewrite that’s release has now been pushed to sometime in December of this year, and that Elon Musk himself has said will be a “quantum leap” thanks to its “fundamental architectural.”