Police Chase Ensues After Tesla Driver Falls Asleep With Autopilot on
upstart writes:
Police chase ensues after Tesla driver falls asleep with autopilot on:
Before we leave last year behind for good, it's worth looking back at one outrageous story that we nearly missed as 2022 came to a close. According to a police report from December 29th, a Tesla on Autopilot led a patrol of Bamberg traffic officers on a high-speed chase on Autobahn 70 (A70) after the driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel of the car.
"The driver was driving on the A70 from Bamberg [a town in Germany] in the direction of Bayreuth around 12 p.m. when the police patrol wanted to subject him to a traffic check," the report claims. "He did not respond to stop signals or repeated horns from the officers."
[...] Finally, after 15 minutes of police chasing him down on the highway while blaring their horns, the driver woke up and pulled over. Police say the 45-year-old man in the Tesla "showed drug-typical abnormalities," suggesting that he was under the influence of something. They also claim to have found a "steering wheel weight" in the footwell, which explains how Autopilot was operating when the driver's hands weren't on the steering wheel.
[...] This is just the latest in a growing series of disturbing reports concerning Tesla's self-driving features and the havoc they can cause when abused.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.