Germany: Police chase Tesla after driver falls asleep using Autopilot

The driver ended up losing his license until the investigation against him is concluded for the criminal offence of endangering road traffic.

According to media reports, Police near Bamberg, Germany, spotted a Tesla driving on the A70 Autobahn with the driver asleep behind the wheel.

The car is said to have been doing a steady 110 km/h on the highway for about 15 mins before the driver woke up and pulled over. Reports state that the driver had reclined the seats, had his eyes close and hands off the steering wheel and did not wake up for 15 minutes, even after numerous attempts by the police using horns & other signals.

During the driver's checkup, reports stated that he displayed signs of "drug-typical abnormalities", making it plausible that the medication could have put the driver to sleep. However, this doesn't account for the reclined seat and the steering wheel weight found in the footwell of the car - a device which fools the autopilot tech into assuming the driver's hand is on the steering wheel.

The driver ended up losing his license until the investigation against him is concluded for the criminal offence of endangering road traffic. The incident, though, further fuels ongoing arguments for and against the safety of the Autopilot technology.

Source: Teslarati