ULTIMATE ANTI CRASH - Fifth Gear

It's surprising that Tesla made that choice. BMW's anti-collision system is on even during manual driving.[1] BMW will brake even if the driver is pressing the accelerator. So will Volvo. Top Gear compares the various systems as of 2015.[2] Volvo did best; Mercedes didn't stop soon enough and hit the dummy car. VW's city car only does this up to 18MPH. Maybe Tesla has a false-alarm problem that BMW and Volvo have overcome. More to the point, this behavior needs to be standardized, or people shifting from one car to another will do the wrong thing. The National Transportation Safety Board is working on this.[3] In a few years, anti-collision may be as standard as anti-skid is now. [1] [LINK] [2] [VIDEO] [3] [LINK]

Another user linked a Fifth Gear video testing the auto-braking systems in Volvo/Mercedes/VW cars. In it, they say the auto-braking systems only engage by braking hard at the last second specifically so you don't get blasé about it as if it were a smooth controlled braking. It's not a mode you want to use because it really feels like you're going to crash. [VIDEO]

There are a bunch of ways you can test the systems apart from just looking at fatality numbers. Here's a TV show testing auto-braking systems for example. [VIDEO] You could easily extend that to a test track with all sorts of stuff self driving cars find hard - oil spills, diversions, people / animals / plastic bags jumping out and so on.

JFYI, a (five year old) video from "Fifth Gear": [VIDEO] I simply love the inflated "dummy car".

A lot of cars have Lane Keep Assist and Automatic Cruise Control, but most are not nearly good enough to rely on. Yes. Here's a road test, from 2013, of three anti-collision systems.[1] These things are all over the place on performance. As many Tesla crashes and deaths have demonstrated, Tesla's system won't stop for stationary obstacles. (Road barrier, street sweeper, stalled car, fire truck - the list goes on.) There needs to be a minimum performance standard for these things. A reasonable minimum goal is to mitigate collisions down to a 35MPH difference or less. With seat belts, air bags, and crush depth, almost anything below 35 MPH is survivable now. [1] [VIDEO]

Here's a TV show trying them at 55mph and 60mph, though with a slow moving object. The Volvo still works quite well at 60. [VIDEO]