Tesla’s self-driving software confuses horse-drawn carriage on the highway with a semi-truck

Tesla’s self-driving system went haywire when the vehicle drove behind a horse-drawn carriage on the highway, confusing the rudimentary way of traveling with a large semi-truck.

The screen on the dashboard shows a Model Y driving up behind what the AI-powered software computes as a truck, but then it changes to a pedestrian, then to a sedan and back to the big rig.

The event, which took place outside of Zurich, Switzerland, was shared to TikTok and reveals how even the most sophisticated software stumbles with adapting to unexpected scenarios.

The video has been viewed more than 590,000 times by users who seem to find the mishap humorous – one user commenting that the ‘car is confused, time travel [is] not part of the programing.’

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Tesla uses a computer vision system in its self-driving technology that lets the car ‘see’ its environment including potholes, pedestrians and surrounding vehicles.  

It uses cameras, ultrasonic sensors and radar to see and sense the environment around the car.

The sensor and camera suite provides drivers with an awareness of their surroundings that a driver alone would not otherwise have.

However, what the system picks up all comes down to what engineers input and it seems a horse and buggy did not make the cut.

The software also thought there was a pedestrian in the road, but also computed the buggy may be a sedan

‘We were driving in our Tesla Model Y when this horse-drawn carriage appeared in front of us,’ the driver of the Tesla shared with the TikTok video.

‘Unable to pass, we stayed behind and watched as Tesla’s visualization tried to spot it.

‘Starting with a motorcycle, to a car, to a truck backing up, it was all there! Fortunately, we recorded it all with [a] smartphone!’

The video starts with the Tesla traveling toward the white carriage carrying two people and the system instantly suggests it is a large semi-truck

But then the digital semi-truck disappears from the screen and a pedestrian appears, but no one was actually in the road.

The big rig pops back on the screen, but then shifts backwards and sideways in a way that some commenters said it gave them ‘Final Destination vibes.’

The big rig pops back on the screen, but then shifts backwards sideways in a way that some commenters said it gave them ‘Final Destination vibes.’

Final Destination is a series of films that focus on a group of people who are trying to avoid death and in the second movie, a semi-truck carrying logs caused mass deaths on a highway.

Fortunately, the semi-truck in the TikTok video did not exist.

Many commenters of the video poke fun at the lack of accuracy, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long touted the system as being one of the most sophisticated.

However, the technology has yet to live up to Musk’s promises and has led to many Tesla vehicles being recalled.

In February, the firm recalled nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their full self-driving software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt.

And in April, a ‘deeply disturbing’ video claimed to show a Tesla in full self-driving mode running over a child-size mannequin during a test by a safety campaign group.

The Dawn Project said the vehicle failed to detect the stationary dummy’s presence in the road and hit it over and over again at an average speed of 25mph.

Safety advocates complain that Tesla should not be allowed to test the vehicles on public roads with untrained drivers, and that the Tesla software can malfunction, exposing other motorists and pedestrians to danger.

Most car companies with similar software test with trained human safety drivers.