--- title: "It Took Seven Minutes to Pull Over a Drunk and “Unresponsive” Tesla Driver" description: "Local news report that a Los Altos comissionner was found to be unresponsive and drunk behind the wheel of his Tesla Model S." date: "2018-12-01" modified: "2018-12-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/seven-minutes-miles-pull-over-drunk-sleeping-tesla-driver" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "autopilot" - "model s" - "self driving car" - "tesla" --- # It Took Seven Minutes to Pull Over a Drunk and “Unresponsive” Tesla Driver ![Local news report that a Los Altos comissionner was found to be unresponsive and drunk behind the wheel of his Tesla Model S.]() *\Image: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images\* ## DUI on Autopilot At approximately 3:37 am, an officer pulled up to a stationary Tesla Model S with sirens blaring on Highway 101 in Palo Alto, California. After chasing the car for seven long minutes at 70 mph (the Tesla was driving just over the speed limit) the officer finally managed to get a peek at the driver. But the driver was [completely “unresponsive,”]() according to the *Los Altos Town Crier*. ## Highway Hazard The officer was clever enough to figure out the Tesla was most likely set to Autopilot —although that’s not officially confirmed yet — and called two additional officers to help him slow down Samek’s Model S safely. The driver turned out to be the head of the Los Altos Planning Commission Alexander Samek. The officers gave him a ride to a local Shell gas station, and promptly arrested him after he failed a sobriety test. ## Safety Off It’s unusual given the fact that Tesla’s Autopilot feature will aggressively blink, and beep at the driver if they are unresponsive or don’t have both hands on the steering wheel. That is, if Autopilot was actually turned on. The feature will also automatically slow the car down on the side of the road if the driver doesn’t react. Samek was booked on two misdemeanors, the *Los Altos Town Crier* reports. Unsurprisingly, Samek posted bail to get out of custody by the next day. Futurism has reached out to Tesla for comment. Tesla has yet to release a statement with regards to the incident. **READ MORE:** [Highway patrol struggles to pull over allegedly drunk, sleeping Tesla driver]() \[Mashable\] ***More on Tesla’s Autopilot:*** [***Tesla Crash Shows Drivers Are Confused By “Autonomous” vs. “Autopilot”***]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()