You may not want to put all your trust in the feature just yet. Some early users have warned that Autopilot doesn't always recognize the cones, potentially leading to dangerous lane changes -- say, steering you into oncoming traffic or construction. Tesla did remind drivers that they're "required to pay attention at all times," though, so it knows this isn't a substitute for keeping your eyes open.

This is still an important step for Tesla. It still intends to enable full self-driving in the future, and that will require cars that can recognize and deal with virtually any road object. A seemingly small update like this could go a long way toward true hands-free driving.