Tesla-Driving Moron Banned For Autopilot 'Seat-Swapping'
Tesla’s Autopilot, and all other Level 2 Autonomous systems are supposed to be for driving ‘assistance’, and nothing more. And yet time and time again - despite several high profile accidents that have highlighted the limitations of such functions - we see idiots like this.
The particular fool we’re looking at today is Bhavesh Patel of Nottinghamshire, who was filmed on the M1 motorway near Hemel Hempstead last May sitting in the passenger seat of his Tesla Model S, with the driver’s seat completely vacant. Yep, he’d engaged Autopilot and then shuffled over to the passenger seat.
Police soon caught up with Patel after the footage was posted online. At St Albans Crown Court on 20 April, the 39-year-old pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was slapped with an 18-month driving ban.
During an earlier interview at Stevenage Police Station, Patel admitted his actions were “silly” but praised the “amazing” capabilities of the Model S, before branding himself the “unlucky one who got caught.”
PC Kirk Caldicutt from the Hertfordshire Road Policing Unit said:
“This case should serve as an example to all drivers who have access to autopilot controls and have thought about attempting something similar. I want to stress that they are in no way a substitute for a competent motorist in the driving seat who can react appropriately to the road ahead.”
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Living High
-i know hes at fault for not being in the drivers seat
but how is he “dangerous driving”, IF HES NOT DRIVING IN THE FIRST PLACE
they should make a bad Tesla driver law
Rejoice. The human driver ban isn’t coming for a long time- thanks to idiots like these.
Mans living in 3018
Its adorable to see some of these Tesla drivers act like they have no control over the car and be in the impression that the Model S/X are totally autonomous. Like, Honey? don’t you know that you’re supposed to have full contol over the car, regardless? Like Mr. Huang who was told to take control of the steering wheel 6 secs. prior to his car running into the barrier. When will these idiots learn that technology isn’t fully perfected yet. The road/highway is not some kind of playground to play around in. Learn to Respect yourself when driving, and not to harm others. Tesla did their part of the job of protecting, and always have been doing, therefore I respect them for doing so. It’s just that the drivers have to be humble, respect others while on the road, and to not pull off anything dumb. However, we all know that it’ll take a couple of years to achieve tech perfection, but long, infinite years to fix Human Error.
Said it before and I’ll say it again. These “semi” autonomous (at best) driving modes need banning until they’re fully capable.
how do all these idiots hold jobs that pay enough for a 120000 pound Tesla?
seriously
You might say he was beside himself.
Can we just ban it from the roads and forget about the Autopilot Drama?
This has happened WAY too many times. Tesla should be forced to change the name of their software. It is simply not anywhere near as comprehensive as its name suggests.