In a bizarre incident involving Tesla’s autopilot, the driver of the EV was found sleeping in the driver’s seat. In the incident, the traffic police officers in a patrol car driving on the Autobahn noticed a sleeping Tesla driver on the moving electric vehicle, as per Insideevs’ report. The driver had reportedly fallen asleep at the car’s wheel while the Autopilot activated and kept on driving on the highway.
According to a press release from Polizei Bayern (Bavarian Police), which Teslarati obtained, the police patrol attempted to submit the driver to traffic control at around 12:00 pm. Still, the vehicle did not respond to stop signals or the several horn blasts from the patrol car.
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The officers further noticed that the autopilot maintained a specific distance from the patrol car while also maintaining a cruising speed of 110 kmph. To understand the situation when the police further inspected the situation, they found out that the driver of the electric vehicle had his eyes closed while lying on the reclined seat of the electric vehicle. In addition, the hands of the driver were far from the steering wheel of the car.
After this, the police continued to escort the car for the next 15 minutes until the driver finally woke up to follow the police’s instructions. The driver displayed “drug-typical irregularities” during the traffic check after getting out of the car. Police discovered a supposed steering wheel weight in the footwell, which is unsettling. In order to deceive Tesla’s safety system into “believing” the driver’s hands are on the wheel, this defeat device is attached to the steering wheel.
The police department is further investigating the Tesla driver. However, the identity of the driver has not been revealed yet, but he will be charged with endangering road traffic and will not be allowed to drive until the court reaches a decision on the case.