Sleeping Tesla Driver Using Autopilot Chased Down by German Police
The driver used a third-party device to skirt around Tesla's Autopilot safety measures.
Many of us may dream of the time where we can casually step into our vehicles, tell it where we want to go, and then take a power nap while the car safety ferries us to our destination. However, despite the incredible advancements in driver assist technologies, we are still quite a long way from that point. Unfortunately that doesn't stop some people from trying to force their way into futuristic comfort in dangerous ways. As you may have guessed by now, another driver has abused Tesla's Autopilot system.
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Teslarati came across a press release from the Bavarian Police that details a traffic incident that no Hollywood writer could make up. According to the report, police noticed "something off" about a Tesla driving on the A70 highway. The officers pursued the Tesla to perform a routine traffic stop but the driver ignored the lights, horns, and other signals to pull over. Despite all signs to the contrary the driver wasn't trying to ditch the po-po because of warrants, he was just sound asleep!
He was reclined with his eyes closed and hands completely off the steering wheel all while the Tesla was traveling at a speed of about 68 mph. The police followed the vehicle for15 minutesbefore the driver finally woke up and pulled the car over for the officers. Once the driver was out of the car police described his behavior consistent with "drug-typical abnormalities." When the officers inspected the car they found a steering wheel weight. For background, Tesla's Autopilot system requires drivers to put their hands on the wheel at regular intervals to show that they are still engaged with the vehicle and can take control if need be. A steering wheel weight is designed to fool the Autopilot system into thinking that the driver's hands are on the wheel.
There are a handful of stories and video scattered all over the internet of drivers using hacks or other defeat devices to circumvent Autopilot's safety protocols so that they can sleep behind the wheel, read a book, or in some cases ride in the back with no one sitting in the driver's seat.
For those wondering why someone would even need to employ a defeat device for a system called "Autopilot," there is a simple explanation. Contrary to what some people may believe, Tesla's Autopilot system and Full Self Driving (FSD) are not "Level 5" autonomous systems as defined by the SAE industry standard. The Autopilot system reaches Level 2 at best. However, critics argue that Tesla using naming conventions such as "Autopilot" and "Full Self Driving" suggests otherwise. That is why the state of California is attempting to crack down on Tesla's branding of the software as it believes it is misleading to customers.
Trying to get around Tesla's Autopilot safety features—or any vehicle's safety features for that matter—is extremely dangerous and should never be attempted. Luckily in this instance, no one was hurt but it could have ended much worse. The driver in this situation will likely face pretty severe consequences for his actions. Moral of the story, if you're too tired to drive, take a napbeforegetting behind the wheel, not after.
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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