--- title: "Reckless Tesla Drivers Are Using Cheap Weights to Fool Their Cars Into Thinking They’re Paying Attention" description: "Fresh Low In a fresh new low, some Tesla owners are apparently using cheap steering wheel weights to trick their cars into thinking they're keeping their eyes to the road. According to a report from The Washington Post, the weights, which have risen in popularity as Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) continues to be adopted by […]" date: "2023-07-10" modified: "2023-07-10" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-drivers-weights-fool-cars" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "full self-driving" - "tesal autopilot" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Reckless Tesla Drivers Are Using Cheap Weights to Fool Their Cars Into Thinking They’re Paying Attention ![Tesla owners are using cheap steering wheel weights to trick their cars into thinking they're keeping their eyes on the road.]() *\Image: Taptes / Futurism\* ## Not Dangerous Enough Tesla owners are using cheap steering wheel weights to trick their cars into thinking they're keeping their eyes on the road. According to a [report from *The Washington Post*](), the weights, which have risen in popularity as Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) continues to be adopted by a growing number of drivers, offer intentionally mundane-looking benefits, such as relieving shoulder pain or doubling as a phone holder. In reality, however, the weights are designed and sold to allow FSD users to take their hands off the wheel while their car attempts to drive itself — despite Tesla still requiring drivers to actively pay attention and be able to take over at any point with the feature turned on. It's incredibly reckless behavior, especially considering that Tesla Autopilot-related deaths have seen an [unsettling surge in recent months](). ## High Risk, No Reward Per the *WaPo*, the devices are being sold across the web, and are particularly common on massive online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba's AliExpress. Comments on the listings — several of which have been removed in light of the *WaPo's* report — are reportedly telling of the products' real purpose, even if a product description suggests otherwise. "If you use it in city streets then it'll work without any alerts," read one Amazon review of something called the "Steering Wheel Glass Breaker," which, according to the report, was posted in May. "Use it at your own risk." "Just got this, and tested it, driving 38 miles," another commenter reportedly wrote of the same product. "No Autopilot nag for the entire ride." To be clear, the car "nags" for [good reason](). Tesla's self-driving features are anything but perfect and have been involved in several fatal collisions. Drivers are using these cheap weights at their [own risk](), but are also putting other drivers around them at risk, too. Even so, experts say that the prevalence of the products, while obviously terrible, isn't all that surprising. "Elon Musk's saying it's supposed to drive itself," Carnegie Mellon University professor Philip Koopman, who has been studying autonomous vehicle safety for 25 years, told the *WP*. "That's what they're going to hear. How do you think they're going to behave?" For its part, Amazon says that it's doing its best to counter the issue. "The products in question were evasively listed, have been removed, and we are taking corrective action," an Amazon spokesperson told the *WaPo*. "Amazon does not tolerate illegal or evasive behavior, and we enforce bad actors that make factual misrepresentations to customers." **More on Tesla autopilot:** [*The Number of Known Deaths Involving Tesla's Autopilot Has Surged*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()