Early object detection for unprotected turns

A vehicle configured to operate in an autonomous driving mode, comprising:

• a driving system including a steering subsystem, an acceleration subsystem and a deceleration subsystem to perform driving actions in the autonomous driving mode;
• a perception system including one or more sensors configured to detect objects in an environment external to the vehicle based on obtained sensor data in a plurality of sensor operations, each of the one or more sensors being positioned along the vehicle, wherein the perception system is configured to:
• detect one or more objects in the external environment of the vehicle during an initial sensor operation, each of the one or more detected objects having a first confidence level associated therewith based on the initial sensor operation, and
• detect at least one of the one or more objects in the external environment during a subsequent sensor operation, each of the at least one of the one or more detected objects having a second confidence level associated therewith based on the subsequent sensor operation;
• and
• a control system operatively connected to the driving system and the perception system, the control system having one or more processors configured to:
• cause the vehicle to take a preliminary action in response to the detecting of the one or more objects having the first confidence level, and
• cause the vehicle to take a secondary action in response to the detecting the at least one of the one or more objects having the second confidence level.