Published 18:58 IST, September 18th 2020
Tesla driver charged for dangerous driving after sleeping off with car in auto-pilot
A 20-year-old man in Canada has been charged for over-speeding and dangerous driving as he was caught sleeping in his Tesla car while driving on a highway.
A 20-year-old man in Canada has been charged for over-speeding and dangerous driving as he was caught sleeping in his Tesla car while driving on a highway. Alberta RCMP received a complaint of a car speeding on Highway No. 2 near the town of Ponoka. Alberta RCMP took to Twitter, where it said that a car appeared to be self-driving on the highway, travelling over 140 km per hour with both front seats completely reclined and occupants sleeping.
'Speechless'
The driver received a dangerous driving ticket and summons for court, said Alberta police. According to Canada's state-run TV CBC, the man was charged for over-speeding because the highway on which he was driving has a speed limit of 110 km per hour. Police Sergeant Darrin Turnbull told the media organisation that he was left "speechless" as in his 20-year-long career he never witnessed anything like that.
Tesla provides two modes in its electric cars, autopilot and self-driving mode. The autopilot mode automatically steers the car, apply brakes, and accelerate. While the self-driving mode provides additional features like self-navigation, detecting traffic lights, auto park, auto lane change among others. Tesla says that the feature is not perfect enough to leave the steering wheel unattended as it requires constant monitoring.
However, many people across regions have misused the feature and have often paid for their carelessness. In June, a Tesla Model 3 in Taiwan collided with an overturned truck after the driver of the car had put it in autopilot mode. The car was reportedly travelling at 110 kilometres per hour before hitting the truck and the driver had said that he tried applying brakes but it was too late.
Updated 19:16 IST, September 18th 2020