A recent incident in Germany has brought to light the continued issue of drivers tricking Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems. The company had previously implemented measures such as inside camera monitoring and the inability to place weights on the steering wheel to pretend the driver was paying attention. However, these measures failed to prevent a 45-year-old man from falling asleep at the wheel with Autopilot activated on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the Bavarian police, the man was driving on the A70 from Bamberg towards Bayreuth at around noon when a patrol pulled him over for a traffic control. Despite stop signals and repeated honking from the officers, the man did not react and the vehicle maintained a constant distance from the patrol car at a speed of 110 kilometers per hour. Upon closer inspection, the officers found the driver leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed and his hands off the steering wheel, leading them to suspect that he had let Autopilot take control and fallen asleep. After approximately 15 minutes, the man woke up and followed the officers' instructions.
During the check, the man exhibited drug-typical behavior and the officers found a steering wheel weight in the footwell. This device is used to deceive the vehicle's safety function by pretending that the hand is on the steering wheel.
Although he is lucky not to have died or killed anyone this time, the Bavarian police started a preliminary investigation into the criminal offense of endangering road traffic. He will have his driver’s license suspended while a German court evaluates his situation.
Source: Polizei Bayern
