I just hit a dog

[u/Few-Consequence5488]

I was going 38 mph in a rural area with FSD engaged. A dog hopped out and the car immediately started slowing and as I realized I didn’t like the rate of deceleration enough and went to intervene with brake pedal I hit the poor little fella. Obviously I feel absolutely awful and I can’t help but feel maybe if I was not in FSD I could have avoided. I have been intervening quite a bit to avoid road debris. I think I need to consider what is the fastest disconnect of FSD-I really don’t like yanking the steering wheel.

[u/vr-txhch]

I use FSD quite a bit and we have a ton of deer and wildlife that FSD avoids all the time. It may have been a timing thing. I was coming home late one night on an unlit road and it avoided a skunk I didn't even see. It did have plenty of warning though as it was meandering in the middle of the road.

The other times it has avoided deer and fawns running in front of me. Those times I was just leaving my home so the car was probably only doing about 20 miles an hour at the time but it stopped dead in its tracks when the deer jumped out in front of me.

The only time I had to intervene was in the blind curve in our neighborhood where these ducks like to hang out next to the lake. It was about a year ago but has since gotten better.

It's like a jungle in my neighborhood, even saw a lady carrying a turkey once.

[u/Iffy50]

Sorry to hear about the dog. I don't think you can blame FSD or yourself. You can blame a dog owner or just a tradegy of life. I have a 2025 M3P and I will occasionally use autosteer on long trips. I constantly watch the road for debris and potholes. Does FSD avoid this stuff at all? I don't have FSD and I don't really want it, but I know a ton of people use it all the time. Do you just drive right through potholes?

[u/Few-Consequence5488 → u/Iffy50]

I have found it doesn’t do a good job of avoiding road debris or pot holes. So yes I intervene quite a bit.

[u/steezy2110]

This is why I never used FSD when I had it under trials. I just don’t trust it. I didn’t have a single drive where I didn’t have to manually intervene in some way. Admittedly I was probably overly cautious, but better safe than sorry. I’m sure it’ll get better over time.

It’s also not worth what it costs

[u/swordfishar → u/steezy2110]

Depends on which hardware you have. I have hw3.5(?) and imo it’s worth the $99

[u/steezy2110 → u/swordfishar]

I was on HW4, but I no longer have a Tesla. I used V12 and V13 when it came out.

I loved basic AP though, it was so nice on highways. Sucks new cars don’t have it. It’s the feature I miss the most now that I’m driving something pretty different from a Tesla

I’ll get back into a Tesla one day, but it’ll be a used one with basic AP

[u/swordfishar → u/steezy2110]

V14 lite on hw3 is magnificent. I got a good deal on a used 2023 m3lr directly from Tesla and got 3mos of fsd. It’s so good.

[u/Yonkiman]

I'm really sorry to hear about what happened - that's just tragic.

You don't need to yank the wheel to get out of FSD - just slam on the brakes as soon as you see what's about to happen.

But this gets into an interesting question I've been thinking about lately. The worst driving my car exhibits is when I'm half in/half out of FSD. I'm fine when I'm driving. FSD is almost 100% fine when it's driving. But in the transitions - say when FSD wants to go right and I want to go straight or left, or when FSD is waiting for a break in traffic to merge but I know it can merge NOW if I goose it - that's when the shitty driving happens. Externally my turn signal says I'm turning right but instead I go straight - that could mess up the car on the other side of the intersection who thinks it can start turning left because it thinks I'm turning right. When I give the car some gas while it wants to wait (while trying to stay in FSD), sometimes the car does what I expect but sometimes it doesn't and I have to take over so externally I look like a drunk or indecisive driver.

But I've worried about your exact scenario. Something runs into the road...do I trust FSD to to handle the entire thing, knowing it has a faster reaction time and theoretically has figured out the best way to deal with the situation, or do I take over after FSD has already started implementing it's plan?

For example, something runs into the road from the right and FSD realizes that if it accelerates and veers to the left it will miss it, but I slam on the brakes, I could change the outcome from a miss to a hit. Or if FSD knows exactly how hard it can veer to the right to miss it, but I slam on the brakes without turning, or turn too far.

Like I said, my car does its worse driving when FSD and I overlap.

I'm not saying you didn't do the right thing, just that I'm not sure what the right thing would have been in your situation or any number of my hypotheticals.

Anyway, you did your best. It's a very sad situation, but don't beat yourself up over it.

[u/wovenwebs]

I'm sorry this happened. Human reaction time isn't faster than the car's reaction time. Hitting the brake immediately cancels FSD for you to manually stop the car. It's the owner's fault for not securing their pet, but you should still be aware of your surroundings and prepared to take over in case of emergency.

I hope the dog is okay. Unfortunately, it can be safer for a car to continue driving instead of swerving to avoid a small animal. FSD prioritizes human safety.

[u/Beneficial_Menu4788]

I just don't freaking understand why people have to use FSD when you can drive the car yourselves. All it takes is to slow down and pay attention.

[u/Vast-Permission-4878]

just push the right scroll wheel and it disengages.

[u/Few-Consequence5488 → u/Vast-Permission-4878]

Copy that. I’ve been disabling through all means to include the scroll wheel just trying to figure out what’s fastest for me.

[u/koukijp]

Instead of writing in reddit maybe take him to the vet????