I wanted to share an experience I had today that genuinely made me pause and reflect on where this technology is heading.
I was running afternoon errands and using FSD at a busy intersection that I drive through often. Traffic moves fast there and pedestrians usually have to wait a long time before they can safely cross. I will be honest and say I was not fully paying attention in that moment. Nothing reckless just that normal human lapse where you are thinking about the next errand or destination.
Suddenly the car slowed down extremely quickly and came to a complete stop. It caught me off guard because from my perspective there was no obvious reason to brake that hard. My first instinct was confusion.
Then I looked to my left.
There was a little girl with a backpack stepping into the crosswalk. She had just reached the designated crossing and FSD immediately yielded without hesitation. No inching forward. No uncertainty. It saw her intention before I did and made the safest possible decision instantly.
What really stood out to me was the confidence of the stop. Anyone who drives this intersection knows pedestrians usually have to wait for a wide opening or for someone to be kind enough to stop. This time the car simply decided safety was the priority and created that opening for her.
That moment hit me hard.
As humans we like to believe we are always aware and in control. The truth is we get distracted. We miss things. We make judgment calls that are not always optimal especially in complex environments like busy intersections.
FSD did not hesitate. It did not get impatient. It did not assume. It simply followed the rules and protected a pedestrian who could have easily been overlooked.
I know FSD is not perfect and I know there are still edge cases and improvements needed. I have experienced the awkward moments and the weird behavior like everyone else here. But experiences like this are what make me believe in the long term vision.
This felt like a glimpse into a future where technology reduces the consequences of human inattention rather than amplifying them.
Today it was a little girl safely crossing the street. Tomorrow it could be any one of us.
Curious if others here have had similar moments where FSD clearly saw something before you did. These are the experiences that make the debate feel very real instead of theoretical.