Problem Solved, Part Deux: How Tesla Can Save The Government Millions — Maybe Billions — And The Role The Cybertruck Will Play In Saving Lives

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This is “part deux” to a previous article, “E-Mode: Applying First Principles To A Complicated Law That Many Drivers Don’t Know Exist.”

In part one, we discussed what E-Modes are and how applying first principles has ultimately ended a 25-year argumentative phase as to the variations to the Move Over laws. That serves as the primary reason why E-Modes are being donated to Elon Musk for Tesla. If you haven’t read part one, you can do so here.

James Law explained:

“I get a lot of flack because I’m donating E-Modes to Elon. You have to understand that the data collected is based on hundreds of men and women who have died in the line of duty. First-principles [thinking] gave me the tool to simplify all this information into simple truths. Ending the [argumentative] phase translates to all those who have lost their lives will have not died in vain.

“As a comparison, to fully grasp the impact this will have on the roadways, we can relate to the aviation industry. When they ended their lengthy argumentative phase, intelligent communication led to a significant decrease in commercial crashes. They are now a rarity.”

In part deux, this article, we look at Tesla’s positive effect on traffic behavior — present and future — as well as the Cybertruck’s future role in protecting lives and possibly saving the government millions, maybe even billions of dollars.

The new phase that we are in is leading to James Garcia’s effort for unification and standardization of the Move Over laws (which require, in various terms, that drivers Slow Down, Then Move Over And Be Prepared To Stop for emergency vehicles and tow trucks stopped on the road or side of the road). Garcia said:

“The government is aware of the magnitude of this problem. Every roadway-responding federal agency has taken an active but independent interest in struck-by injuries: the ‭Federal Highway ‬Administration (FHWA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the ‬Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), ‬the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS). Even the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)‭ has sponsored employee safety training to address struck-by awareness. You will be hard-pressed to find any government agency that hasn’t expressed ‬interest in protecting its workers while in the roadway.”

James Law’s effort is to actively change vehicle behavior through Tesla’s AI and Full Self-Driving (FSD) advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS). However, changing traffic behavior is not new for Tesla.  

“If you look at the roadways as a circulatory system, it’s just flowing. With the constant rise in accidents, it is clear we have a serious health problem. The only notable change is Tesla’s intelligent features. Without change, there’s no change. To change traffic behavior, you have to set the right example and others will follow. It’s literally the cure, and it has already begun.”

A Study Of Tesla Behavior In Traffic

James conducted a three-year study on the evolution of Tesla’s effect on traffic. 

“The less stop and go, the less energy that gets wasted. It also saves on wear and tear on the vehicle. People tend to be overconfident and follow too closely, which leads to chain reaction crashes. It’s kind of a monkey see, monkey do thing where people drive too close and when [the car right in front] slows down, they are not prepared to respond in time to stop.”

He argues that Tesla’s adaptive cruise control feature (which has a flexible following distance — or actually time — ranging from 1 to 7) increases safety by reducing the chances of forward momentum collisions. It also helps to maintain traffic flow.

In most cases, because the Tesla keeps the right amount of space, you’ll notice the cars behind the Tesla also start following at a safe distance; sometimes up to 4 vehicles in a row.

“This is an example of vehicle parroting behavior. If you’re driving, you’ll notice a car that is tailgating, because it plays on our sense of danger. However, you may not notice the vehicles that are keeping a safe distance unless you’re specifically studying traffic behavior. If all vehicles were as intelligent as Tesla’s, safety would increase and alleviate stop-and-go traffic, meaning everyone would get to their destination sooner. The more Teslas you inject into major arteries, the more traffic will flow freely. This is the equivalent of curing a heart attack!

“This means that for every Tesla out there, it increases safety by three vehicles, at least.”

He also brought up the economic value of traffic flowing properly, noting that it’s almost impossible to calculate. 

AI Vs. Human Error

James shared his thoughts on the key difference between humans and AI.

“Some humans learn from their own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others, but there are some people who only learn from making the mistake themselves. In traffic, this learning habit can be deadly, whereas AI learns collectively.”

James shared an excellent example of human error. He pointed out that fire trucks and emergency vehicles are always getting hit by passing vehicles. It’s known as The Silent Epidemic. All drivers approaching emergency vehicles are required to obey the Move Over laws. Responders, likewise, have a responsibility to train for best practice standards to control traffic. Nonetheless, this deadly problem persists.

When emergency personnel are tending to a wreck, James explained, there is a certain position that fire trucks take to block lanes and to guide traffic away from the crash area. This is the fend-off blocker position.  

James Law said that according to the Traffic Instant Management (TIM) free online training, the trucks are parked at an angle for several reasons.

“The angled emergency vehicle serves to redirect traffic flow. This is a visual cue to go in that particular direction that the vehicle is pointing to. A secondary reason is if there is an impact at an angle, it dissipates the kinetic energy instead of an abrupt stop. This decreases the chances of injury or death.

“The front tires turned out also serves as a visual cue to move over, and in case of impact, the tire pushes the vehicle away to reduce damage. This position prevents the other vehicle from flipping over due to a tire-to-tire impact.”

In a letter that Tesla received from the NHTSA, James pointed out that the fend-off positions were mentioned. That letter asked Tesla to describe its strategies for detecting and responding to the presence of first responders. 

Regarding the three incidents involving a Tesla and a fire truck, it was clear from the photos that the fire trucks were in less effective fend-off positions. James emphasized that parking a firetruck or any blocker vehicle in an improper and less effective fend-off position is equivalent to an arrow truck with the arrow pointing the wrong way.

This may seem like an unimportant detail, but when the car in front of you moves over at the last second and you’re faced with a fire truck in this position, it may cause momentary confusion. This next split second could mean the difference between an impact or being able to respond safely to the situation.

Based on the history of fire trucks getting hit, this will continue to confuse humans, whereas Tesla’s AI will learn to anticipate and respond faster than humans. 

How The Cybertruck Can Save Millions As The Perfect Blocker Vehicle

James explained that repairing fire trucks that are hit can be pretty costly. New fire trucks cost anywhere up to a range of $500,000 to $1M, and when they get hit, the repairs can be very high. Moreover, it can take months for them to be repaired; meaning that they are not in service in that time.

“What happens is that you’re missing an important piece of equipment for firefighters to perform their life-saving duties. What they are doing to reduce these costs is using other reconditioned vehicles such as decommissioned snow plows and dump trucks as blockers.

“This is where the Tesla Cybertruck could be used to protect lives. Because of its unique shape, when placed at an angle, it literally becomes a Chevron. This makes it almost impossible not to detect that it’s not in motion even for people who have a depth perception problem.

“The Cybertruck is also very heavy. It makes for a perfect blocker, and the stainless steel exoskeleton will protect the operator inside of the vehicle if it gets hit.”

James also added that when the Cybertruck is in the fend-off position, the red lights in the back dictate where not to go, and the lights in the front light up the area where you should go. It’s human nature to avoid red and head towards the lighted area.

The Cybertruck, thanks to its 4-wheel steering, can have its 4 wheels turned out in a fend-off stance, dubbed “Wresistance Mode.” That serves as a clear indicator that the vehicle is not in motion while also indicating which way traffic should go.

He noted that the large flat area in the back of the Tesla Cybertruck is perfect for applying reflective chevrons. James also pointed out that the Tesla Cybertruck will be much cheaper than a fire truck, so it’s more economical to use these vehicles in a blocking position at the scene of an accident. 

This is where the government can save millions of dollars, or billions when considering the number of lives that could be saved — both lives of emergency personnel and the general public. Just between Part One and Part Deux of this series, deaths from SBI (struck-by incidents) amongst emergency personnel rose from 51 to 57.  

“In the future, Robotaxi Cybertrucks could be dispatched to anywhere for protection. This is needed — definitely an advantage to protect Tesla Roadside Assistance providers.”

While the Cybertrucks are blocking, other Teslas passing by will “Wreckonize” the hazard and trigger “E-Mode,” which will preemptively warn the other vehicles via parroting behavior. The video below is a demonstration of a Tesla Cybertruck in the fend-off blocker position with E-Mode on.

The Bottom Line

“Without the advancement of Tesla’s AI, people will continue to die.”

James noted that it is rather ironic that President Biden refused to acknowledge Tesla’s role in the leadership of the EV industry on the same day he signed the Infrastructure Bill into law.

This law is providing federal funding and assistance in promoting the Slow Down Move Over laws to address this ongoing national tragedy. Our friends at Teslarati also added. 

“Although it’s good to see that these struck-by deaths have become a federally funded priority, a lot of this funding is going to go to collect data in order to solve the struck-by crash problem. Upon the advent of Tesla adopting E-Modes in its entirety with its prescribed behaviors and its effect on traffic, the irony is that Tesla would be collecting data solving this problem.

“The question is no longer a ‘how do we solve this problem?’ Rather, it is ‘how fast do we apply this solution?’ When we have a solution, the problem is no longer a problem, it is ‘problem solved’.”

Tesla E-Modes (Video)

“As long as there will be incidents on the roadways, Tesla will be faced with dealing with them. This prescribed behavior combined with E-Modes clearly shows how traffic is influenced into safer actions when encountering a hazard. This behavior needs to be implemented at scale. Instead of telling people, we will show them how and when to Slow Down Then Move Over And Be Prepared To Stop!”