Holy Mountain

Tesla Driver Pulled Over Going 93 MPH While Completely Asleep

Seriously?
Jon Christian Avatar
Canadian cops say they pulled over a Tesla that was traveling at 93 miles per hour — while the driver was completely asleep.
Image: RCMP Alberta/Twitter

Catching Zs

Canadian cops say they pulled over a Tesla that was traveling at 93 miles per hour — while the driver was completely asleep, with the seat pulled down like a bed.

“The officer was able to obtain radar readings on the vehicle, confirming that it had automatically accelerated up to exactly 150 km/h [93 mph],” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement to Global News.

Speed Racer

Tesla’s “Autopilot” feature, which offers a range of driver assistance technologies like lane centering and semi-autonomous navigation on highways, has blossomed into an unlikely public health hazard, as more and more news reports emerge of drivers engaging it and then taking a nap or otherwise ceasing to pay attention to the road.

One Tesla driver was eating and drinking during an accident, another was watching a movie on his phone when he smashed into several police cars, and yet another was playing a video game.

Sleeper Hit

The Canadian police are mincing no words about the latest incident, over which they charged the driver with speeding and issued a 24-hour license suspension.

“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,” RCMP Supt. Gary Graham said in a statement to Global News. “They are not self-driving systems, they still come with the responsibility of driving.”

READ MORE: Alberta RCMP charge driver allegedly sleeping in a self-driving, speeding Tesla on Highway 2 [Global News]

More on Autopilot: Elon Musk Defends Tesla’s Misleading “Autopilot” Mode

Jon Christian Avatar

Jon Christian

Executive Editor

I’m the executive editor at Futurism, assigning, editing, and reporting on everything from artificial intelligence and space exploration to the personalities shaping the tech sector.