Happy 10k Day

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Sales milestone & product scope

  • Thread clarifies the 10k figure is for the comma 3X (since mid‑2023); previous comma 3 sold ~5.5k, for >20k devices total.
  • Several commenters are surprised by the scale and express interest in future development.

User experiences: reduced fatigue vs unnerving failures

  • Multiple owners describe it as “game changing” for long highway trips, drastically reducing fatigue and making them choose cars based on comma compatibility.
  • Typical usage: lane centering and sometimes longitudinal control; driver intervenes for exits, tight turns, and anomalies.
  • Some use forks (e.g., SunnyPilot) for features like stopping at lights, but note rough edges (rolling stop signs, imperfect red-light behavior).
  • A serious negative anecdote: a comma 2 reportedly froze while appearing engaged, with no alerts, and never rebooted, making that user unwilling to try again without hardware redundancy.

Safety, driver monitoring, and over‑reliance

  • Strong debate about safety: lack of prominent safety data, failure rates, and regulation worries some commenters.
  • openpilot’s own README calling it “ALPHA… FOR RESEARCH” is cited as conflicting with casual real-world use.
  • Driver-monitoring via camera (gaze/drowsiness) and limited steering torque are described; car AEB and other OEM safety systems usually remain active.
  • Several commenters criticize anecdotes of falling asleep while comma drives, arguing this exemplifies dangerous risk compensation and misuse. Others claim the same situation without comma would likely have led to a crash.
  • Concerns extend to rare “edge cases” (animals, weird traffic) where humans might have very little time to retake control.

Comparisons to Tesla & OEM systems

  • Experience is likened to Tesla Autopilot (lane keeping + adaptive cruise), but without FSD-style navigation or autonomous lane changes.
  • Opinions differ on relative capability: some say comma feels better than Tesla’s systems for basic driving; others insist the latest FSD is far ahead.
  • OEM lane keeping (e.g., Subaru) is criticized as “ping‑ponging” or even dangerously buggy; comma is positioned as a smoother, more trustworthy lane-centering aid by supporters.

Legal, regional, and ecosystem questions

  • Legality is described as jurisdiction-dependent; the site is seen as very US‑centric with vague guidance for other countries.
  • Some international users (UK, Australia) report success, but others are uneasy about the lack of explicit non‑US testing/support.
  • There is confusion and concern about warranty, liability, insurance repudiation, and the overall “hackiness” of plugging into a car’s CAN bus.
  • The LTE modem and fleet data collection raise privacy worries; some want a fully offline, non‑“phoning home” mode.