Just picked up your new Tesla? Before you head out on the road, take a few minutes to review these five important safety and parking settings.
Tesla vehicles include several driver-assistance features that can help improve visibility, warn you about nearby vehicles, and reduce the risk of minor parking damage. However, some of these settings may need to be enabled or adjusted manually.
Menu names may vary slightly depending on your Tesla model, model year, hardware, region, and current software version.
1. Turn On the Automatic Blind Spot Camera
Go to:
Controls > Display > Automatic Blind Spot Camera
Once this feature is enabled, the corresponding side-camera feed appears on the touchscreen whenever you activate a turn signal.
For example, when you signal left, the screen shows the view from the left-side repeater camera. If the vehicle detects another car in the adjacent blind spot, a red warning bar may appear on the camera feed.
You can also drag the camera window to a different position on the touchscreen so it does not block important driving information.
This feature is especially helpful when:
- Changing lanes on the highway
- Entering a bike lane before turning
- Checking for motorcycles or smaller vehicles
- Merging into traffic
The camera view is an additional tool, not a replacement for checking your mirrors and looking over your shoulder before changing lanes.
2. Enable the Blind Spot Collision Warning Chime
Next, go to:
Controls > Safety > Blind Spot Collision Warning Chime
When this setting is enabled, your Tesla can sound a warning chime if it detects a vehicle in your blind spot and determines that a possible collision may occur.
The Automatic Blind Spot Camera gives you a visual view, while the Blind Spot Collision Warning Chime provides an additional audible alert. Using both can make lane changes easier, particularly in heavy traffic.
Some newer Tesla vehicles may also include a Blind Spot Warning Light in the front door-pillar speaker grille. Availability depends on the vehicle configuration and model year.
3. Review the Collision-Avoidance Settings
Go to:
Controls > Self-Driving
Then review the following settings.
Forward Collision Warning
Set:
Forward Collision Warning > Medium
Medium is Tesla’s default warning level and provides a reasonable balance for most drivers. You can also select Early, Late, or Off.
When Tesla detects a high risk of a frontal collision, the vehicle can sound a chime and highlight the detected object in red on the touchscreen. Forward Collision Warning only provides an alert; it does not apply the brakes by itself.
Drivers who prefer more advance notice may choose Early, although this can result in more frequent warnings.
Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance
Turn on:
Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance
This feature may apply corrective steering when the vehicle begins leaving its lane and Tesla detects a risk such as:
- Drifting toward a vehicle in an adjacent lane
- Entering an oncoming traffic lane
- Leaving the roadway
When the system intervenes, the car may sound a chime, display a warning, and highlight the lane marking in red.
Automatic Emergency Braking
Make sure the following feature remains enabled:
Automatic Emergency Braking
Automatic Emergency Braking may apply the brakes when Tesla determines that a collision is imminent. It is designed to reduce the vehicle’s speed and lessen the severity of an impact, but it cannot prevent every collision.
Tesla automatically enables this feature at the beginning of each drive. It is generally best to leave it on.
Obstacle-Aware Acceleration
Turn on:
Obstacle-Aware Acceleration
This feature can reduce motor torque—and in some situations apply the brakes—if you press the accelerator while the vehicle detects an obstacle directly in its path.
It is primarily designed for low-speed situations, such as:
- Pulling into a garage
- Maneuvering through a tight parking area
- Reversing near a wall
- Accidentally pressing the accelerator instead of the brake
Obstacle-Aware Acceleration generally operates when the vehicle is stopped or traveling below approximately 10 mph. It can reduce the severity of an impact, but it is not designed to guarantee that the car will stop before hitting an obstacle.
4. Turn On Park Assist Chimes and Check Joe Mode
For audible parking warnings, go to:
Controls > Safety > Park Assist Chimes
When Park Assist Chimes are enabled, your Tesla sounds increasingly urgent beeps as the vehicle approaches a detected object.
You should also check:
Controls > Safety > Joe Mode
Joe Mode reduces the volume of non-critical vehicle chimes. It is useful when passengers or children are sleeping, but it may make some parking alerts less noticeable.
For louder general vehicle alerts, leave Joe Mode turned off. Critical safety warnings are not reduced in the same way.
Park Assist can miss curbs, narrow poles, low barriers, children, animals, or objects that are outside the cameras’ effective field of view. Always check the area yourself before moving.
On supported vehicles, you may also find:
Controls > Safety > Rear Cross-Traffic Chime
This produces an audible warning when the vehicle detects traffic approaching from the side while you are reversing. Availability depends on the vehicle, hardware, and software version.
5. Enable Mirror Auto Tilt for Reverse
To help protect your wheels from curb rash, go to:
Controls > Mirrors > Mirror Auto Tilt
When Mirror Auto Tilt is enabled, both exterior mirrors can automatically tilt downward after you shift into Reverse. This gives you a better view of the rear wheels, curbs, parking-space lines, and other low obstacles.
You can customize the reverse position by selecting:
Adjust Tilted Position
Move the mirrors until you can clearly see the curb or rear-wheel area, and then save the setting. When you shift out of Reverse, the mirrors return to their normal driving position.
The mirror position can be saved to your driver profile, so each driver can have a different reverse-view preference.
Bonus: Learn How to Use the Camera and Park Assist Views
When you shift into Reverse, Tesla automatically displays the rear camera feed and nearby parking information.
Depending on your vehicle configuration, you may also be able to open the Camera app and view the rear and side-camera feeds. Certain newer models equipped with a front-facing bumper camera may also provide a front camera view.
Tesla Vision Park Assist uses the vehicle’s cameras to create a high-fidelity visualization of nearby objects. Objects shown in red are generally closer to the vehicle, while yellow objects are farther away.
This should not be described as a conventional 360-degree bird’s-eye camera system. It is a computer-generated parking visualization based on camera data, and it may not display every curb, pole, pedestrian, or low object accurately.
Keep the Cameras Clean
Dirty or blocked cameras can reduce the performance of:
- Blind Spot Camera
- Park Assist
- Lane Assist
- Collision warnings
- Self-Driving features
- Rear Cross-Traffic Alert
Check the front, rear, and side-camera lenses regularly, especially after driving in rain, snow, mud, or on salted roads.
Tesla recommends removing dirt by spraying water onto the exterior camera lens and carefully drying it with a microfiber cloth. Avoid abrasive cleaners, sharp tools, and high-pressure washing directly against the camera.
You can review recent camera-visibility problems by going to:
Controls > Service > Camera Visibility
Some Tesla models equipped with a front-facing bumper camera also have a camera washer. This feature is not available on every Tesla.
After a major software update, menu names and feature availability can change. You can cross-check recent software-version context with our Tesla OTA Update History.
Final Reminder
These settings can improve awareness and may help reduce the risk of common parking or lane-change accidents, but no Tesla safety feature replaces attentive driving.
Always:
- Check your mirrors
- Perform shoulder checks before changing lanes
- Look around the vehicle before reversing
- Keep your foot ready to brake
- Maintain control of the steering wheel
- Keep all cameras clean and unobstructed
Set these features up when you first receive your Tesla, save them to your driver profile, and review them again after major software updates.
