Tesla Cameras Now Help You Avoid Curb Rash! (Software Update Coming)

Curb rash has been the bane of many a Tesla Model 3, S, and X owner over the years. I think the first Tesla Model 3 aftermarket accessory colleague Kyle Field got for his car in 2018 was rim protectors from EV Annex.

In January, Tesla Owners Silicon Valley asked Elon Musk on Twitter if the feeds from the side cameras could show on the infotainment touchscreen when backing up, to help drivers avoid curb rash and see beyond blind spots. Apparently, that feature is coming soon with another round of over-the-air software updates, and the view is quite sharp:

My feature request finally came. Thankful Elon added it as it will save a lot of curb rash. https://t.co/B5QpuTooOD

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) June 19, 2020

This should help a lot of people with their parking — whether that be avoiding curb rash, parking more quickly and with less stress, or parking closer to the curb thanks to the better view.

Tesla Owners Silicon Valley has another good looking feature request that I think could be even more useful and I hope will be included in another software update sometime soon-ish — that the side camera feeds show on your screen when you put on a turn signal.

Hey @elonmusk one of the biggest feature requests is the side cameras being activated when the turn signal is activated?

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) April 13, 2020

Naturally, some people may not care to have the cameras take over their screen for either backing up or turning, but I assume you’ll be able to click a button to have the options active or not (assume the turn signal feature is ever added).

As the cars handle more and more of the driving on their own, this may not be as big of an issue, but I think we’re far away from having the cars really park themselves or change lanes without the driver’s close supervision.