Is the Tesla Model S Pedal Placement A Safety Hazard? 394
cartechboy (2660665) writes "When things go wrong with the Tesla Model S electric car, its very loyal--and opinionated--owners usually speak up. And that's just what David Noland has done. An incident in which his Model S didn't stop when he pressed the brake pedal scared him--and got him investigating. He measured pedal spacing on 22 different new cars at dealers--and his analysis suggests that the Tesla pedal setup may be causing what aviation analysts call a 'design-induced pilot error'. And pedal design, as Toyota just learned to the tune of $1.2 billion, is very important indeed in preventing accidents."
Don't blame others for user error. (Score:5, Insightful)
Size 13 winter boots. Brake pedal and gas aren't "as far" apart as other cars.
User Error != Manufacturer Defect
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:5, Funny)
He's holding it wrong.
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My advice to him would be to get an angle grinder and chop 0.3" off the side of the brake pedal to bring it up to international safety standards.
You can never be too careful.
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:5, Funny)
My advice to him would be to get an angle grinder and chop 0.3" off of the side of his foot to bring it to international safety standards.
That way, he can drive any car safely, without additional modifications to them.
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My advice to him would be to get an angle grinder and chop 0.3" off of the side of his foot to bring it to international safety standards.
That way, he can drive any car safely, without additional modifications to them.
Sorry, that's just the US code (you can tell by the imperial units). To qualify internationally, he needs to amputate 0.001 kilotoes.
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Actually "Apple Juice" is usually used to mean filtered Cider, whereas Cider usually refers to unfiltered or lightly filtered (strained with cheese cloth). Apple juice is often clear and light light yellow/brown in color; whereas cider is opaqe and brown.
I too wouldn't have made much distinction before I spent some time looking over recipes for cysers and ciders after hand pressing 30 lbs of apples last year (gets about a 2 gallons of cider)
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:4, Insightful)
User Error != Manufacturer Defect
That's incorrect. The set user error induced accidents and the set of design error induced accidents intersect each other.
If you look deeply into most mishaps, you'll usually see a series of errors that compound each other. Often the omission of any one of them would have prevented the mishap. If it is foreseeable that a person wearing winter footwear might depress the accelerator when he intends to use the brake, *and* a simple design change could prevent this, the manufacturer ought to make the change.
This is distinct from when a user *misuses* a feature. I have a friend that manufactures a sports car pedal extender that allows drivers on a track to simultaneously work the brake and accelerator [wikipedia.org]. It's an aftermarket modification meant for track use, and it's the customer's responsibility to exercise special caution if he leaves the device installed in a car he drives on the street. The customer has to be aware of the potential for unintended acceleration because he installed the device himself. The reason that the sports car pedal isn't designed to facilitate heel-and-toe shifting is that it would surprise people accustomed to "normal" controls who bought the car for cruising around on public roads.
You have to take the characteristics of the user population in mind when designing a product. So the very qualities which make the aftermarket modification a good design would be a design *flaw* on a car intended primarily for on-street use by less-than-serious drivers.
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:5, Insightful)
I disagree.
I feel that pressing the brake pedal should stop the car, no matter what other pedals or switches are engaged. To me, the brake pedal is the god pedal. It rules all others.
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FWIW Tesla cars work that way. The brake overrides the accelerator.
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Size 13 winter boots. Brake pedal and gas aren't "as far" apart as other cars.
User Error != Manufacturer Defect
Manual sports car. they're right fucking next to each other (why, because sports car, that's why*).
In most modern auto's, the accelerator cuts out when the brake pedal is pressed (mainly because so many idiots right foot brake, so they never bother taking the left off the accelerator) so it definitely sounds like user error and refusal to accept responsibility. *No seriously, heel-toe shifting, sports car drivers do that kind of thing.
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Where are you from? In the USA, the brake pedal is on the right of the accelerator, and one is taught to use the right foot for everything except operation of the clutch (if manual tranny).
Strongly disagree. Is my fault. See door handles. (Score:5, Insightful)
I thoroughly disagree. As a UX designer, I consider my design "in need of improvement" if it's designed such that it's easy to make specific, known errors. A few hours ago I was on the phone with a customer who uses my Strongbox software. He was making the same error that many other people make. That many people make the error proves to me that the software doesn't make it sufficiently obvious what the correct action is.
about when you've been in sometime else's car at night. Often you have to hunt for the door lever and especially on older cars you have to figure out if the handle should be rotated upward, pulled out and back, out and forward, etc. Doors on buildings often have instructions posted on them - Push or Pull. Other buildings don't need instructions - the door has a flat metal plate that can only be pushed. It can't be pulled or turned, it's a flat plate. Emergency exits get it right - a wide, flat bar is obviously for pushing. Some doors, like one I sawlast week, get it ENTIRELY wrong - that one had a round knob - which needed to be SLID to the side. Round knobs are for turning! Vertical slits or projections are for sliding to the side. Not surprisingly, I saw two different people struggle with that door until someone helped them.
We talked about the handles inside of cars. Contrast that with the handles on the outside of a car door. That's a good design. Noone will ever need help figuring out how to operate an exterior car door handle because the design is such that the user can only do one thing - insert fingers and pull.
I seek to make my designs be like exterior car handles - intuitively obvious. With the right design, not only do users not make errors, they aren't even distracted by looking at the UX, figuring it out. They just do it automatically, intuitively, like opening the door to get into a car.
Credit to The Design of Everyday Things for the door handle example.
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:4, Interesting)
Sports cars have the brake and gas pedals close together so that one can heel-and-toe them. Wannabe-sports sedans copy this, for the same marketing reason we were afflicted by spoilers on family sedans for a generation.
Each "standard" has its place, the fault if any of Tesla was in believing their own hype that the Model S was some kind of sports car (hint: when your car's over 2 tons empty, that's not what "sports car" means. GT cruiser maybe, but no one's gonna be heel-and-toeing it through the race track in anything like stock.)
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:4, Interesting)
Heel and toe is a bit stupid in a car without gears...
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:5, Informative)
All cars have gears including the tesla.
The Tesla has a fixed single speed transmission so for all intents and purposes it has no gears.
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:5, Informative)
For a car to have no gears, the drive shaft directly couples to the drive wheels.
For a comment to have meaning, it must take the language into account. And in this case, your comment is entirely and completely wrong because the meaning of the word "gears" in this context corresponds to "selectable gear ratios".
If you're not willing to speak English, perhaps the English-speaking web is not for you.
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think I know the context of my own comment.
But you don't, and therefore you said something amazingly stupid.
Good job trying to tell me what I'm saying though.
No, I know precisely what you're trying to say. You're trying to say that you're an asshole and a pedant who will willfully ignore what the prior poster was trying to say so that you can put them down so that you can feel good about yourself. You're therefore a bully, therefore a shitheel. And I am saying this not to make myself feel better, but to make you feel worse, in the hopes that you'll go throw yourself off of something tall. Or at least consider your next comment before you hit submit.
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Does it really have a reverse gear, or does it simply reverse the direction of the electric motor? The only reason for a reverse gear in a internal combustion engine powered car is that you can't simply spin the engine the other way to back up, which leads to a bunch of complexity in the transmission. That's not a problem for an electric motor, and I know Toyota took advantage of that in the Prius, as the Prius is electric-only backing up.
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:4, Insightful)
Heel and toe is a bit stupid in a car without gears...
The Tesla is a 1-speed fixed gear ratio (9.73:1). So technically it does have gears. But you can't change them while driveing. Only by tearing the car apart to swap out a different set of gears. In the sense that the GP meant, no the car does not have gears. At least none that you can change(shift) while driving the car. So as the GP correctly stated, it is pointless to heel-toe in a Tesla.
Re:Don't blame others for user error. (Score:5, Funny)
Three Ratios for Vintage drivers, under the sky
Seven for Volkswagen in their halls of stone
Nine gears for Porsche, doomed to drive
One Ratio to rule them all, One ratio to drive them
One Ratio for the Musk-Lord, and in the Tesla's windings
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Don't be dense. When a driver says a car has no gears what she means is that there is no shifting going on.
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Actually, no. It has no gears. That is why it tops out at 125 mph. They tried to put gearboxes in there, but the motor blew them apart.
Actually yes it does have gears [bmcnamara.com]. See that thing that connects the electric motor to the wheels. That's a gearbox and contains gears.
It has a gearbox with one speed. Motorists would refer this as having no gears. To use an internet analogy: it's like having your P2P software force you to have a fixed upload/download ratio.
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As he said: Stupid in a car without gears.
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Unless you have a turbo and want to raise rpms while at a stop to get a faster start.
You have two feet.
With a car without a clutch pedal, there is never any need to heel-toe, as you can use your left foot on the brake pedal. That gives you greater control than controlling two pedals with one foot.
And indeed, most sportier automatics have a brake pedal designed to be operated by either foot.
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There is absolutely no point in using your left foot to brake in a road car. If you ever get back in a manual and split-second forget so in an emergency, you'll be pressing the clutch instead of the brake. If you're a professional driver (karting, rally, Formula etc) then that's different, and you as a driver are different, but normal road drivers should never ever left foot brake.
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There is absolutely no point in using your left foot to brake in a road car.
As a guy with a prosthetic right leg, I can attest that there is at least one point to left foot braking.
m
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There is absolutely no point in using your left foot to brake in a road car. If you ever get back in a manual and split-second forget so in an emergency, you'll be pressing the clutch instead of the brake. If you're a professional driver (karting, rally, Formula etc) then that's different, and you as a driver are different, but normal road drivers should never ever left foot brake.
Total BS. I almost always brake with my left foot (in automatics). When in traffic, it allows much faster reactions to surprise changes in conditions and is safer. It's also much smoother for normal transition between brake & gas when you don't have to pick up your whole leg (or even just foot if the pedals are close). The whole "you might forget which foot you're using" is nonsense. That's never happened to me ever in 14 years of driving. That's like saying you might forget which way to turn the
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And that has what to do with the fact that for a decade every Camry and Taurus had a spoiler from the factory?
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I also have size 13 winter boots. I've drove many brands and many models of cars, and since winter last a while around here, I've done so with those winter boots. In most of the cars, I am always touching the brake pedal when pressing the gaz. We learn to be very cautious at all times; in his blog you can clearly see the wide brake pedal that might not be so far from the gaz but you know what, you can move your feet much more to the left without problems.
Most of the issue with large boots is actually slowin
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I guess I drive different cars, because I wear a 15 and don't have any trouble at all. Maybe you're sprawled out laying down and have your foot sideways? Sit up and drive!
I've noticed a lot of people slouching down in the driver seat trying to hide their phone between their legs while they text, or play flappy bird, while they drive. Crazy.
wiki is wrong. Motors max torque at stall, only (Score:5, Informative)
As you may know, if you spin an electric motor by putting a prop on it and letting the wind spin it, you've just made a generator. You may also know that doesn't mean that the spin a motor powers itself, forming a perpetual motion machine. That's because the generated voltage is in the reverse direction from the direction required to make it spin (among other things).
So what happens is that when you apply 12 volts to make a motor turn, that "generator effect" is producing 6 volts the other direction. If you put a multimeter on the motor terminals, it'll read 12V - 6V = 6V. So the spinning motor has 6V at its terminals. If it's not spinning, it doesn't work as a generator, so it has 12V on terminals. Guess which one has more torque, the stalled motor with 12V or the spinning motor with 6V? The motor with the full 12V (because it's not generating -6V) has more torque. Max torque, therefore, is at 0 RPM. Faster spinning means more negative voltage generated and lower torque.
A manufacturer of the control circuit can of course ARTIFICIALLY limit the power to the motor at low RPM. If they set the control circuit to not ALLOW the motor to full torque, the car would see consistent torque. That's not because of the motor, though, that would be an artificial limit configured into the controller.
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Actually, his proposed solution is exactly what Audi, VW, BMW and Mercedes have implemented.
Tesla (Score:5, Insightful)
Hey look, some idiot hit the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal and it's "news" because it was a Tesla.
Re:Tesla (Score:5, Interesting)
Pretty much. I drive a car with a manual transmission; we don't get giant brake pedals, so I'm stomping on this tiny little square which my foot can easily slip from. It has, and has found the accelerator...which is usually non-functional because I'm out of gear.
So yeah. His massive foot should have been able to find the massive brake pedal. It's the big, long, wide one. If you're hanging on the edge of the brake, you could slip off the edge and floor it. I've done it.
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Getting behind the wheel of an automatic with the parking brake on the floor and stomping down on the "clutch" can get pretty damned exciting too... Locked up the wheels on a GOV SUV getting off the Interstate. Whoops...
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Yep, I've done that....
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No I haven't. I though you meant you stomped the brake pedal when you went for the clutch.
All the parking brakes I've seen are way higher than the other pedals and way over on the left. Pretty darn difficult to hit accidentally.
Re:Tesla (Score:4, Insightful)
Getting behind the wheel of an automatic and putting it into gear and it starts moving is scary! Cars are designed to go to a halt without active user input, but for some reason automatics has mindblowingly retarded defaults that makes them move unless you floor the brake! Automatics are just scary scary things of EPIC UI FAIL!
Re:Tesla (Score:5, Informative)
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The effect is understandable given how an automatic transmission works, especially before transmissions became computer controlled. What's crazy is this effect is intentionally mimicked in cars that would normally not have this creep. I drove a hybrid (Nissan Altima) that when I released the brake while stopped would kick in the electric motor and start creeping forward, which I thought was nuts. It would do this when the gasoline engine was stopped, so there was no question that it was creeping forward
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But... if it's not creeping, how will you regen in traffic jams by hitting the brakes?
Re:Tesla (Score:5, Interesting)
Which is exactly why sane manufacturers have the parking brake actuator higher up and way off to the side and a large footrest left of the brake pedal.
I never figured out WTF was wrong with having a hand brake... A recent trip to Canada saw me having to use a torch to actually find the foot operated parking brake every time I needed to operate the damned thing!
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Pretty much. I drive a car with a manual transmission...
Every once in a while, when I'm wearing winter boots, and go to push in the clutch, I get the brake too as a special bonus ;-)
Re:Tesla (Score:4, Funny)
and has found the accelerator...which is usually non-functional because I'm out of gear.
It's not non-functional. It makes you sound awesome!
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Indeed, this image from TFA nicely demonstrates what a retard this guy is: http://images.thecarconnection... [thecarconnection.com]
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Well, I hear you, but that's how news work. If a dog bites a man, it's not news. If a man bites a dog, it's news even if it happened in a faraway country.
If an expensive high status car has a problem, it's news.
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No, if it's an electric car, it's news.
It's safe to say that there are some powerful people who really don't want Tesla to succeed. These "pro-consumer" stories are most likely coming from the same place laws that laws forbidding Tesla from having showrooms in several states come from.
If they'll go to the extent of having captive legislatures pass laws making it harder for Tesla to do business, does anything think they wouldn't gin up a few press rel
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The thing is, you have no use for heel-toe in a Tesla. Not only is it not a manual, it does not have gears at all.
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The thing is, you have no use for heel-toe in a Tesla. Not only is it not a manual, it does not have gears at all.
Huh?
Heel-toeing is not a manual-transmission thing, you know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H... [wikipedia.org]
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I know what heel-toeing is. You have no use for it in a fixed-gear car.
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Hey, you're the one that superfluously mentioned manual transmissions. Since you know what the term means, assume my comment is directed at anyone who may have been confused by yours.
Actually, Audi blamed the driver (Score:4, Interesting)
Audi got partial blame for their unintended acceleration problems because the brake and throttle were close enough that when it was fully depressed, the driver would have trouble telling from position which pedal was depressed.
That was Audi's excuse - but not the actual reason.
I was driving on an interstate highway on cruise control in an Audi 5000 Turbo, when the car suddenly went to full throttle. I could easily move the gas pedal up and down, so it wasn't stuck. I shut off the cruise control via a dashboard switch, and regained control. The throttle issue was clearly the cruise control malfunction. It never did it again. I could not duplicate the fault, so I suspect poor RF shielding (trucker using a hopped up CB radio?).
Yeah - I contacted Audi with the "good news" and they had zero interest. They would rather blame the customer than recall the cars.
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Toyota flooring cover were sticking the pedals down when pushed down hard by the user. That's quite different, in this case he took his feet off and the car didn't start accelerating as if there was no tomorrow.
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Hey dumbass:
1: I don't like Tesla. They're overpriced, flashy, and catch fire a lot.
Especially if be "a lot" you mean, less than other cars, but more than once!
And yet only one idiot has this problem. (Score:2, Interesting)
And yet only one idiot has this problem.
In the toyota case lots of people were having problems. Not just one with a tape measure and an axe to grind because he made a foolish mistake.
Re:And yet only one idiot has this problem. (Score:5, Insightful)
Before posting crap like this for the love of god at least consider the difference in number between the most popular car on the road and a super expensive specialty vehicle that very few people own. Somehow I am not surprised that with only 25,000 cars on the road there are less reports of problems with the tesla than there are with the 3.2 million prius' sold world wide.
Obviously its just a conspiracy and also there is clearly no way that anyone at tesla could ever make a poor design decision.
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But...but...he writes a BLOG about Tesla! How can he be an idiot? He must be an authority on all things automotive!
(that was sarcasm btw)
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It may be a foolish mistake, but it was also very easy to prevent by design. Either move the pedals farther apart or change the error handling in software.
Re:And yet only one idiot has this problem. (Score:5, Funny)
O agree, and on an unrelated note, O would loke the standard QWERTY keybaord redesogned so that the letters O "eye" and O "Oh" are not placed so close together. Thor current placement causes me far too many typong errors
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Put elderly people in Teslas, and they'll have many people complaining too. There are many more Toyatas, and very few feeble-minded people driving Teslas.
Need an Awww Shut Button (Score:5, Funny)
It needs a big red shiny button on the dash! It'll simultaneously apply the brakes, eject the battery pack, contact your insurance agent to file a claim, call your lawyer to sue Tesla and deploy the fire extinguishers. Not necessarily in that order.
Betteridge's Law of Headlines (Score:2)
No.
News for nerds (Score:5, Informative)
Guy cannot drive and trashes expensive car, blames manufacturer.
News at 11.
PS: Apparently, "The Model S accelerator pedal is disabled if you press the accelerator pedal and brake pedal simultaneously."
Audi (Score:2)
Re:Audi - Mine took off on its own (Score:5, Insightful)
Is this the same bullshit that almost made Audi pull out of the US? It looks like it.
The bullshit was Audi blaming the customers for confusing the pedals. The fault was elsewhere. I know - I owned an Audi 5000T that did this.
I was driving on an interstate highway on cruise control - my feet were not touching the pedals. The car suddenly went to full throttle. I could move the throttle pedal up and down with my foot. The brake pedal would not budge. I shut off the cruise control via a dashboard switch, and regained control. After the turbo boost dropped below atmospheric pressure, I regained brakes. I later discovered the check valve on the vacuum assist was worn, causing the loss of brakes when the turbo was on boost. The throttle issue was clearly the cruise control malfunction. It never did it again. I could not duplicate the fault, so I suspect poor RF shielding (trucker using a hopped up CB radio?).
I contacted Audi, and they blew me off.
To their credit, they stopped using the check valve method, so someone at Audi understood the fault condition. I'm less sure about the other issue. I solved the problem by deciding never to buy another Audi.
Unintended consequences (Score:2)
Moving the pedals farther apart and with more vertical separation may make it harder to quickly switch from the accelerator to the brake pedal, causing more accidents than the few prevented by the people with size 13 feet wearing large boots. Plus, with a large vertical separating, the big footed guy might find his foot trapped under the brake pedal when trying to quickly shift over.
I think it's going to take a little more research than one man's anecdote to determine if it's a problem.
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It already works that way. (Score:2)
The guy did not actually recommend what you just said. He suggested a software fix where if brake and gas are both pressed, the brake would over-ride the gas pedal. So brake would always stop the car independent of whether the gas pedal was pressed.
According to the comments section, it already works that way. Also, if you look at the pictures of the pedals, the brake pedal area is huge compared to the gas pedal area. While I personally like a long gas pedal hinged at the bottom, compared to a small square one, it's pretty clear his heel was too far right for braking. He probably needs to adjust his seat forward to increase his foot rotation.
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You mean moving them to a position consistent with other cars on the road would somehow make this car less safe than those other cars?
Toyota's fine was not just about pedals (Score:5, Informative)
Toyota's fine was not just about sticking pedals (and initially making deceptive statements about the safety of those pedals). Toyota's fine was in part for claiming that sticking pedals were the sole cause of unintended acceleration when in fact multiple defects in Toyota’s engine software directly caused at least one (decided by a jury) other crash.
An Update on Toyota and Unintended Acceleration Barr Code [embeddedgurus.com]
U.S. Fines Toyota $1.2 Billion but Defers Criminal Prosecution Over Vehicle Safety Deceit - IEEE Spectrum [ieee.org]
This is an important safety (and technology) issue that has flown mostly under the radar. I believe that is in part because journalists and the public believe they got their answer years ago, when in fact new evidence, expert testimony, and court verdicts have come to light. I think the issue is important enough that this misconception should be corrected whenever it's reported.
My opinion, not my employer's.
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The Worst Pedal Arrangement (Score:2)
The worst pedal arrangement I've ever seen was in a manual transmission Mini Cooper S. That floorboard was designed for a goddamn stick-man. Seriously, I'm not a very big dude, and even I had trouble heel-toeing to the brake pedal without accidentally catching the edge of the clutch pedal.
Long story short, unless Tesla outsourced the pedal design to Mini, it could be worse.
Self-induced pilot error (Score:2)
I just went from an Rx-8 to a Mini, both 6-spd manual boxes.
I find myself stepping on my clutch foot with my brake foot. That didn't happen with the 8. Disconcerting, to say the least.
I'm getting better after a month (2000 miles), but that does tell me there are differences between the two cars that my muscle memory is trying to overcome.
I'm not blaming the car, I'm changing how I drive.
Maybe that's what's going on here, except they're not changing how they drive?
Pedal Placement Failure (Score:2)
I thought the biggest failure in pedal placement on the Tesla was placing them in a $75,000 car.
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The brake pedal is elevated with regard to the gas pedal meaning that in essentially any situation you hit the break first. If you double pedal the car will break and not only that, it WILL tell you that you are pressing both pedals and make an audible noise.
So I'd have to conclude that the problem lies between the pedals and the seat in this case.
And I know cause I drive one daily and I have managed to double pedal a total of two-three times when being lazy and it's never been a situation where it'd lead t
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I'm not sure you're helping your case. In fact, IMO you're supporting his. He has only double-pedaled a small number of times too, and his previous times were when he didn't have issues stopping either. And in years and years of driving my normal sedan, I think I have never double pedaled.
It really does sound like a design pro
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If you double pedal the car will break
I don't think a car which breaks if you hit both pedals is a car I'd want to buy...I'd like to be able to continue my journey.
You double peddalled 2 or three times?? (Score:4, Insightful)
So there was a problem with the driver in your case as well then?
In my 20 years of driving many different cars, this has never happened to me. Not once. And I have size 15 feet, and regularly wear combat boots. The fact that you are saying you had the exact same experience on the exact same car - how can that NOT be a design flaw?
Your anecdote exactly proves his point! Unless you are calling yourself the problem. Do you really love tesla so much you would rather blame yourself?
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Hill starts? Its not a manual you know.
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And even if it was, that's what the parking brake is for
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They pretty much do this now. I have 2013 Dart. If the traction control is on when you take your foot off the break the break basically remains applied for I don't know long exactly I want to say almost a second, unless forward motion is detected. So you can hill start without it rolling backwards unless you are way way way slow with your feet. It may also know if you
If you actually do want to just roll backwards, like I often do to get out of my own driveway you just wait the second.
I think it may also
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Never "double pedalled" and managed hill starts all my life... not sure what you mean. Clutch control ;) (and every automatic I've drive manages just fine too).
The really fun maneuver is to have a manual transmission going from a full stop heading uphill (a steep hill at that) and some jackass that is only six inches from your rear bumper. Bonus points if you don't touch that car behind you.
For me, that takes pressing three pedals at the same time (break, gas, & clutch). You let off the brake pedal first as you let the clutch slip a little bit while stomping on the gas and trying not to stall out the engine at the same time. Perhaps there is an easier way t
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Hill starts are quite easy when you get the hang of them: keep one hand on the handbrake (parking brake), and bring the clutch up to the biting point until you feel the car struggle a little against the brake then slowly release the handbrake while you give it a little more throttle.
It's almost exactly the same as pulling away normally except you let the clutch bite a little more before you release the brake. Failing that, you find the owner of the other car and tell them what an inconsiderate tool they've
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You won't be able to heel-toe anymore though, as if that's something a Tesla driver ever needs to do.
Given the lack of gears, I'm going to say confidently that they do not need to heel-toe.
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Given that it is all drive by wire, I don't see why it couldn't be adjustable to foot size...
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Simple Rule (Score:2)
When you press a pedal and don't get the expected results, it's most likely the wrong pedal.
Actually it is easy to do if you are wearing work boots. Thankfully it's the usually the opposite...pressing the brake didn't make the car go.
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What country are you from? I'm an American. I guess I'm just not educated enough to know, but what is a "Honey Booboo?" And why do you believe I have one? Survivor, I think is some cable TV show. I guess it is popular in your country? Or do you just consume a lot of media that talks about it?
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How do you do cruise control with just one pedal?
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I suspect the pedal would move, just like it does in my radar-guided cruise control.
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But how would you disengage the cruise control with your foot? Would you have to press a button on the steering wheel before doing emergency stops?
That does not sound particularly safe.
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Never mind, the designer already thought of that. Sorry about the interruption.
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What do you do if you are on cruise control and suddenly spot a hazard? Press a button on the steering wheel?
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No I see the point now. That is a rather nice design.
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With thatsolution I think you're actually more likely to encounter this same problem, as you could far more easily be pushing your foot to the right (accelerate) and down (brake) at the same time.
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The "one foot" style of driving is simply a poor carryover from manual transmissions. If automatic-transmission cars were designed from scratch today with no backstory, we'd have the brake over on the left, the gas on the right. Simple, obvious.
What about people that drive both auto and stick?
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No, we would have one pedal. pull back for gas, push foreward for brake, 100% safer as it is impossible to hit both at the same time.
That is a poor design because it requires you to pull your leg back sometimes.
It is also a poor design because strong acceleration will tend to be self-reinforcing. During a surge of acceleration, the pedal (effectively) moves away from you.
It is also a poor design because if you take your foot off the pedal, you will accelerate. You could include a dead man's switch on the pedal to detect that condition, but switches fail all the time. Brake light switches fail all the time, even though they are one of the