A Canadian driver was pulled over going 93mph at the wheel of a Tesla recently. It turns out, the speeding driver wasn’t even “driving”, they were asleep…
How can you fall asleep at 93mph?
More and more reports of people getting into accidents using Tesla’s autopilot feature have been surfacing recently. And, many put the blame on Tesla. However, it’s great, revolutionary technology and Tesla shouldn’t be held accountable for individual drivers irresponsibility. Such as this driver here, who was asleep at the wheel.
It’s a miracle no one was hurt in the end.
“The officer was able to obtain radar readings on the vehicle, confirming that it had automatically accelerated up to exactly 150 km/h,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement. (150km/h is 93mph).
The driver was fined, charged with speeding, and was handed a 24 hour driving ban in the end. And it’s well deserved.
“Although manufacturers of new vehicles have built-in safeguards to prevent drivers from taking advantage of the new safety systems in vehicles, those systems are just that – supplemental safety systems,” Supt. Gary Graham said in a statement. “They are not self-driving systems, they still come with the responsibility of driving.”
Other incidents like this have had more serious endings, with people ending up seriously injured, and even dead.
Such drivers taking advantage of the automated driving system have enjoyed sandwiches and movies at the wheel before crashing in the past – with one driver crashing into a group of police cars.
Drivers are required to keep their hands on the wheel even when the system is on, which is a commonly disregarded safety measure involved in a lot of these crashes.
