3,000 Miles on Tesla's FSD: The Incredible Upgrades, One Terrifying Glitch, and the Cult Mentality That Endangers Progress

For the handful of you still reading my posts (kidding, engagement these days is what it is) you already know that I just drove my Tesla Model Y over 3,000 miles from the upper Midwest to Arizona and back —95% of which was on Full Self Driving.

On the trip down my car was running an older version (v14.2.2.5) of the self driving software. This version was flawless 99% of the time but seemed to have a problem with dark tire marks and asphalt patches on the highway, sometimes misinterpreting them as hazards. When it did the software would glitch and swerve violently to avoid them, sometimes my car would sometimes leave the lane in the process. It wouldn’t happen every time, maybe once every ten instances but it was still quite unnerving.

Many people in the Tesla community who already had a chance to test this latest and greatest version of the software extolled the virtues of the new v14.3.3 which included updates such as:

• Upgraded Reinforcement Learning (RL) stage → broader improvements across driving scenarios.
• Upgraded neural network vision encoder → better handling of rare/low-visibility situations, stronger 3D geometry, and expanded traffic sign understanding.
• Rewritten AI compiler/runtime with MLIR → ~20% faster reaction times and quicker model iteration.
• Reduced unnecessary lane biasing and minor tailgating.
• More decisive parking spot selection and maneuvering.
• Improved parking location pin prediction (shown on map with (P) icon).
• Enhanced responses to emergency vehicles, school buses, right-of-way violators, and rare vehicles. Remember this one.
• Better small animal handling (via focused RL training and proactive safety rewards).
• Improved traffic light handling at complex intersections (compound lights, curved roads, yellow lights).
• Better handling of unusual objects (extending/hanging/leaning into path).
• Improved recovery from temporary system degradations (fewer unnecessary disengagements).
• Actually Smart Summon max speed increased to 8 mph (13 km/h) (from 6 mph) — noticeable improvement in responsiveness and flow in parking lots.
• Model unified with main FSD/Robotaxi for more capable behavior.
• Refined driver monitoring (less nagging in some reports) and intervention feedback menu updates (options like Navigation, Parking, Critical, Other).
• Various smoothness, decisiveness, and edge-case refinements reported by users (e.g., better parking lot navigation, avoiding blocked paths).

You can understand how thrilled I was to get a notification that the new version of FSD (v14.3.3) was available to download on my car in time for our 1,500 mile trip back north. Our Airbnb in Sedona had decent WiFi so I immediately got it uploaded into the car and started using it.

The new version of the software was, indeed, much smoother and more humanlike. The reaction time was much faster and it seemed to handle all complex driving situations with ease. It even responded to the hand gestures and signs of flagmen who were working on road construction crews around town, stopping and going at the appropriate times. This was highly impressive and, to me, felt like it was bordering on sentience.

The Model Y drove us around Sedona using version 14.3.3 of FSD our remaining days in the city with no issues. The tire mark and asphalt patch glitch of the previous version was solved and never happened again. I had no hesitation whatsoever typing in or speaking our destination and then tapping the “Start Self Driving” button as we began our trip back home.

On our second day of driving we spent the night in La Junta, CO and were traveling back to our hotel after charging the car. We were driving around 65 mph on a four lane highway back to the hotel. I noticed a highway patrolman had pulled a car over and he was issuing the driver a ticket on the right hand berm. As we passed the patrol car, in a split second, our Model Y slammed its brakes on and we came to a full and abrupt stop right there on the highway—in front of a Colorado State Trooper! I felt almost like the car was pranking me. Thankfully there were no cars behind us.

After the shock subsided, I pulled off to the side of the road to see if I might have hit anything because I thought I did hear a thud while the car was screeching to a halt. I did a quick walk around the car and there was no indication of damage. Later we figured out the thud was a gallon water jug we had behind the passenger seat that went airborne when the car stopped. I thought for sure the officer would stop what he was doing and give us a ticket for coming to a full, abrupt stop on the highway but he was so engrossed in issuing his ticket I was able to get back on the road and made it to the hotel unscathed. It was our lucky night in that regard, I guess.

We were mystified as to why this happened. As a Tesla shareholder I kept thinking to myself *What if this were to happen to an elderly person or an inexperienced driver?” They could have easily overreacted, took over the controls, and crashed the car.

After getting back to the hotel and doing some research many other Tesla owners reported their cars slamming the brakes around emergency vehicles while using v14.3.3. It was clear that the “Enhanced responses to emergency vehicles, school buses, right-of-way violators, and rare vehicles.” portion of the update needed some fine-tuning so it didn’t spazz out.

I shared my story on one of the Tesla Facebook groups and that’s when the true adventure began. These groups are intended to keep each other informed of updates and features and give advice to those new to the products. There were a few other members who said they had experienced similar issues after doing the recent FSD update and shared how unnerving it was. I also received comments like —"Relax, it’s no big deal", "This is why it’s called Self-Driving (Supervised)", "Don’t worry, it won’t do that if a car is behind you", and "Take a deep breath and just keep using it".

It dawned on me how this was a great example of precisely how dangerous the cult mentality, that’s so prevalent in almost every aspect of our society these days, can actually be. When we believe in and feel closely aligned with something it's often easy to be blind to its problems and imperfections. Many of these people are such heavily invested fans (both literally and figuratively) of the Tesla brand that they turn a blind eye to some of the imperfections that should be dealt with instead of glossed over.

The truth is that Tesla's vehicles and software get so much right. What I admire so much about the company is how quick they are to listen to customer feedback and fix these issues. In fact they’ve already released another upload to fix FSD’s brake-happy overreactions around emergency vehicles. I’m already using FSD again.

In the end, I still pulled into my driveway in Minnesota with the same sense of wonder I started the trip with. Watching FSD smoothly and confidently navigate thousands of miles of highways, construction zones, and city streets feels a lot like science fiction. I remain a proud Tesla shareholder and true believer in the long-term vision. But experiences like the sudden brake slam in front of that Colorado State Trooper remind me that rapid progress demands honesty, not blind defense.

The real threat isn’t the software glitch — it’s the cult-like refusal to acknowledge problems by certain members of the community. As we race deeper into the age of AI, it's vital to find ways to use the technology to enhance our lives without worshipping it. Healthy skepticism and open feedback aren’t attacks on the brand or progress; they’re the fuel that will make the world better for everyone.

All for now. Thanks so much for reading.