Tesla is rolling out a significant safety enhancement through a software update. Teslas, already the safest vehicles on the planet, got a little safer thanks to a small company based in Texas. While this article will highlight the advancement in safety, it will also applaud the work of Emergency Safety Solutions, which dared to challenge the old way of doing things.
Tesla North America didn’t mince words when they announced: “If an airbag is deployed, hazard lights will automatically activate & flash faster to improve visibility.” Elon Musk added, “New Tesla safety feature uploaded via over-the-air software update. Your car just got better while you slept.”
It got much better thanks to a partnership with Emergency Safety Solutions (ESS), which we spotlighted a year ago. The small company, now just five years old, used a Tesla Model 3 to display its advancements in the hazard lights system, which had remained unchanged for more than 70 years. After numerous studies, the company changed everything about the hazard lights and approached Tesla with its findings.
Chilling Frequency: Every seven minutes, a disabled vehicle is involved in a crash on American roads. The result? An alarming 15,000 injuries or fatalities annually.
Ancient Flaws: The primary culprit behind these startling figures is a hazard light system that hasn’t been updated in over seven decades.
The Solution: A frequency shift by adjusting flash frequencies from the sluggish 1.5Hz system to between 4Hz and 6Hz immensely heightens driver alertness. Hertz is a unit of frequency, which equals the number of cycles per second. In this case, the frequency of flashing lights is increased from 1.5 flashes per second, up to 4 – 6 flashes per second.
Real-World Outcomes: When 5Hz flash frequency was tested, drivers reacted a crucial 12 seconds faster. Moreover, they recognized an issue of more than three football fields sooner than the 70-year version. The number of drivers shifting to the safer side of a disabled vehicle also shot up dramatically — from 30% to an impressive 87%.
Emergency Safety Solutions also posted on X: “Great step toward making our roads safer for people in disabled and vulnerable vehicles! We appreciate our partnership with Tesla and applaud this major milestone in our mission to protect drivers when they need it most.”
Tesla states in their post on X that this update is rolling out now in the U.S. to Model 3/Y vehicles and newer Model S and Xs.
It’s not clear whether Tesla means this enhancement is available in update 2023.32, or whether it’s in the upcoming 2023.38 update, which is currently in employee testing.
It’s more likely that H.E.L.P. is implemented in update 2023.38, but we have yet to receive release notes for vehicles in the U.S., so we’ll have to wait and see if this enhancement made it in.
Keep an eye out for even more safety advancements courtesy of this partnership with ESS and Tesla. The company created the Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol or HELP. Beyond the lightning-fast flashes, HELP seamlessly integrates with in-car and phone navigation systems, giving drivers a heads-up about potential hazards before they become visible. It’s like giving your Tesla a sixth sense.
Unfortunately, that will take longer as it would require more automakers to get on board with this new system. However, as we’ve realized, automakers are following Tesla’s leadership on several fronts, and they may also increase road safety and implement the advanced system.
If an airbag is deployed, hazard lights will automatically activate & flash faster to improve visibility
Update now rolling out to all US Model 3 & Y as well as S & X (2020 & newer) pic.twitter.com/TadrwKTmtB
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Tesla is preparing to take driver monitoring to a whole new level by checking exactly who is behind the wheel before unlocking advanced autonomous driving features. Up until now, the interior cameras have mostly been used to make sure you're keeping your eyes on the road while using Full Self-Driving (Supervised). However, a new discovery has revealed that Tesla might gate FSD behind a biometric lock.
According to code strings found inside the latest Tesla mobile app version 4.58.5, Tesla appears to be developing a feature that uses the internal cabin camera to authenticate drivers before letting them enable FSD. The mobile app now includes specific entries like fsdIdentityCheckFailedMessage and showFsdIdentityCheckFailedDialog. These indicate that if the interior camera detects a face that does not match an authorized driver profile saved in the car, the system will block FSD from engaging and notify the user of unauthorized access on their phone.
Tesla has already been using the cabin camera for occupancy detection instead of seat sensors, but this potential new functionality goes well beyond that. It also connects nicely to code spotted earlier this spring in software update 2026.8.6 for Tesla vehicles, which suggested that Tesla might soon start using cabin cameras to assess driver age via facial analysis.
The facial recognition feature could also serve several real-world purposes once it rolls out. It would prevent teenagers or unauthorized family members from turning on FSD without permission. It could also play a major role in Tesla's Robotaxi fleet, ensuring that the passenger entering the cabin matches the person who booked the ride. For people renting a Tesla, it could mean that only you can enable FSD.
There is no official release date for this feature yet, and the mobile app is only one half of the equation — an actual launch would also require a firmware update for vehicles. We’ll have to wait until there is additional information added to the app, or until Tesla releases the feature to determine exactly the advantages of this feature.
It’s possible Tesla could use it to prevent unauthorized FSD access to individuals who borrow your vehicle and may not have agreed to FSD’s terms or are aware of the controls and requirements. It could also prevent underage access or potentiallly even tie FSD to an owner’s account, regardless of the vehicle they’re using.
Don't expect this implementation to replace your phone key or the standard PIN to Drive feature anytime soon. Facial recognition on a standard RGB cabin camera simply isn't as secure as the advanced infrared depth-mapping hardware that Apple uses for Face ID on the iPhone. Instead, this look-to-unlock feature will simply serve as an extra permission check specifically designed to keep FSD access tightly managed.
Tesla vehicles have already been driving themselves off factory assembly lines and into delivery lots since last year. This type of automated logistics has saved a lot of time on the factory floor, and Tesla even made history last year by autonomously delivering its first vehicle to a customer's doorstep from Gigafactory Texas. Now, that same autonomous tech is expanding deeper into the final assembly steps.
Tesla's Vice President of Engineering, Lars Moravy, recently sat down for an interview with longtime Tesla enthusiast Herbert Ong and shared how Full Self-Driving has taken over the very end of the factory validation process. Moravy revealed that new vehicles now completely drive themselves through the bumps, squeaks, and rattles (BSR) section of the production line. This serves as the final validation track before cars are cleared to leave the factory floor, which they also do autonomously.
While the car drives the BSR course, built-in cabin microphones listen intently and report any assembly issues back to the engineering team. Moravy announced that Tesla is even working on a specialized AI system called "Full Self-Hearing" to detect these minor imperfections automatically before delivery.
The factory teams are also using internal AI agents across engineering, supply chain, service, and manufacturing quality control. This goes hand-in-hand with ongoing early-life failure testing to validate new components and manufacturing processes for Tesla’s products. That said, the interview extended well beyond just manufacturing automation and technologies.
During the chat, Moravy dished plenty of new details on the highly anticipated Cybercab robotaxi. The exec said that Cybercab production lines are expected to scale far beyond what current market estimates dictate. The factory setup for the vehicle is incredibly high-tech, with about 90% of the Cybercab manufacturing line being fully automated.
Thanks to this efficiency, Tesla may eventually produce more Cybercabs than any other vehicle model in its history. For perspective, the reigning volume champion, the Model Y, has seen roughly four million units produced to date.
Moravy also dropped a hint about connectivity, suggesting that Starlink could eventually make its way to the Cybercab to guarantee cellular reception for the fully autonomous vehicle in rural areas. This kind of satellite internet integration has not only been long rumored for Tesla vehicles but has also been among the most requested features from customers. It looks like Tesla's purpose-built robotaxi might lead the charge. We previously even saw a production Cybercab unit testing with a Starlink dish attached to its roof.
The interview also shed light on how the Optimus humanoid robot program is progressing. Tesla's first official Optimus production line has successfully landed at the Fremont factory, and crews have already started the installation process. The line uses a completely modular design so the layout can adapt as the robot and its manufacturing process evolve, and engineers expect to scale up to dozens of individual sub-lines over time.
While initial production will take place in California, the actual manufacturing equipment for the robot is currently being built and validated in Germany, involving roughly 40 distinct sub-lines. Moravy noted that Tesla's bill of materials for a standard car is technically higher than a robot's, but he didn't offer an exact timeframe for full commercial Optimus production. Due to the mechanical complexity and tight safety requirements of a humanoid robot, the exec said Optimus will be manufactured more like a modern car than a standard smartphone.
Before closing out the interview, Moravy also teased a big announcement regarding production scaling at Giga Texas that's coming Tuesday, July 7. You can check out the full interview below:
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