In a bizarre incident involving Tesla’s Autopilot, the driver of the EV was found asleep in the driver’s seat. In the incident, traffic police officers in a patrol car operating on the Autobahn spotted a Tesla driver sleeping on the moving electric vehicle, reports InsideDevs. The driver reportedly fell asleep at the wheel of the car while Autopilot activated and continued driving on the highway.
According to a press release from the Polizei Bayern (Bavarian police), which Teslarati obtained, a police patrol attempted to depose the driver at traffic control around 12:00. Nevertheless, the vehicle did not respond to a stop signal or multiple horn blasts from the patrol car.
Read also: 5 electric cars to launch in India in 2023: Citroen C3 EV, Mahindra XUV400 and more
The officials further observed that the autopilot maintained a specified distance from the patrol car while maintaining a cruising speed of 110 kmph. When the police further inspected the situation to understand the situation, it was found that the driver of the electric vehicle had closed his eyes while lying on the seat of the electric vehicle. Apart from this, the hands of the driver were far away from the steering wheel of the car.
After this, the police escorted the car for the next 15 minutes, until the driver finally got up to obey the police’s instructions. The driver displayed “drug-specific irregularities” during a traffic check after exiting the car. Police found alleged steering wheel weight in the footwell, which is disturbing. This defeat device is attached to the steering wheel in order to trick Tesla’s security system into “believing” that the driver’s hands are on the wheel.
The Police Department is further investigating the Tesla driver. Though the identity of the driver has not been revealed yet, he will be charged with endangering road traffic and will not be allowed to drive till the matter is decided by the court.