Tesla autopilot will soon be able to detect traffic lights

Last November Tesla added a feature that would allow the autopilot to detect traffic cones to better navigate the roads. Now, it looks like the company is working on another feature to improve autopilot on its cars.

First spotted by Out of Spec Motoring, the new feature will allow Tesla autopilot to read the traffic lights and take appropriate action. According to the video posted on Twitter, Tesla autopilot can spot a traffic light from 500 ft and it even shows a prompt on the screen briefly (At 40-second mark). At the traffic light, the screen shows a popup saying that the car has stopped at traffic control.

Autopilot stopping for red lights! ???????? ? ?

let’s goooooooo pic.twitter.com/C95etry3t5

— Third Row Tesla Podcast (@thirdrowtesla) March 26, 2020

It’s not clear if the autopilot can see the traffic lights from further out but 500 ft seems reasonable distance to safely stop at the light. There’s no word on when the new feature will be available but with Tesla supporting updates, we can be sure that the feature will make it to the existing cars.