Police Chase Tesla On Autobahn After Driver Turns On Autopilot And Falls Asleep

Somewhere near Bamberg, Germany, police spotted a Tesla some 15 minutes after initiating a traffic stop. Authorities say that the man at the wheel had his seat reclined and had been asleep while the Tesla drove itself. They also say that they found a safety defeat device in the car.

Sometime around 12 p.m. December 29th, police noticed a man asleep in his Tesla driving on the A70 Autobahn from Bamberg in the direction of Bayreuth. Notably, the car traveled at a steady speed, about 68 mph (110 km/h) throughout the ordeal. Despite numerous attempts by police to wake the driver with horns and other signals, it took about 15 minutes before he awoke and pulled over.

According to the police press release, first obtained by Teslarati, “Officers found that the Tesla driver was reclining in the seat with his eyes closed and his hands off the steering wheel. This strengthened the suspicion that he had left the controls to the autopilot and had fallen asleep. After about 15 minutes, the man finally woke up and followed the instructions of the police.”

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The same report says that the man “showed drug-typical abnormalities during the check-up.” It’s plausible then that a new medication might have lulled the driver into a slumber but that doesn’t account for the seat being reclined. It also doesn’t account for the steering wheel weight found in the footwell of the car.

Such a device is utilized to trick Autopilot (and some other autonomous driving programs) into thinking that the driver’s hand is still on the steering wheel. Without it, the car would’ve likely recognized that nobody was paying attention in this case and pulled itself over long before the police were involved.

For now, the driver has lost their license until police can conclude an investigation into the criminal offense of endangering road traffic. In the meantime, arguments both for and against Autopilot will surely continue.

While some claim that the system is inherently unsafe because it can be tricked, as it appears to have been in this case, others will say that falling asleep at the wheel in another vehicle likely would’ve resulted in serious injuries or even fatal ones. We’re just glad that everyone walked away from this interaction unharmed.