Tesla AutoPilot Stops Car After Driver Passes Out At The Wheel

Tesla has been talking about its AutoPilot level 2 autonomous driving technology for years. It is also transitioning to Tesla Vision which will just use cameras and its computer vision algorithms. Now, its driver-assist system has done it again – this time around stopped the car after a drunk driver in Norway passed out on the wheel. The incident happened on July 30. Many motorists passed the Tesla Model S which was on the road when the driver was unconscious on the wheel. The car was followed and filmed while he had his head down for over a minute before AutoPilot kicked in and stopped the car itself. Many motorists stopped by the car who tried to wake up the driver but he was still unconscious.

Then the police came to the scene and found that the 24-year-old driver was unconscious because he was drunk. The police also revealed that the driver denied driving.

“At 0540; a Tesla stops in the tunnel. It turns out to be a man 24 years old who has fallen asleep behind the wheel. He is also drunk but stubbornly denies driving. Although there is a video of him from the car … Necessary samples have been taken,” the police said in a statement. Many times before drunk drivers have used AutoPilot as an excuse to avoid drunken driving charges by claiming the system was driving the car not them. Tesla needs the driver’s hands to be on the steering wheel to make sure they are conscious of the wheel.

It has also cameras inside the car to make sure that the driver is paying attention to the road. It also sends out alerts to the driver and if the vehicle detects torque isn’t being applied to the wheel – but when alerts are repeatedly ignored it slows down the car makes it stop at the side of the road.