Tesla driver falls asleep while driving on autopilot on German Autobahn

A 45-year-old Tesla driver has been arrested on the German autobahn after falling asleep at the wheel. The autopilot was activated and the car drove on – but no accident happened.

Although the name Tesla Autopilot suggests that you can let go of the steering wheel and let the car do all the work, this is not true. Technology can only offer you driving assistance for the time being and you can never fully rely on technology.

Driving while you sleep with Tesla Autopilot

The Tesla owner on the German autobahn near Bamberg did. The man fell asleep and showed “drug-typical abnormalities,” according to the Bavarian police.

Arresting the man was not easy. Around 12:00 p.m., a patrol car saw the man driving on the freeway when the police were about to conduct a traffic stop. The man did not respond to stop signals and police horns. When officers drove in front of the man for a while, they only saw him leaning back, with his eyes closed and his hands on the wheel, then traveling at 110 kilometers per hour.

15 minutes unstoppable on the German autobahn

The man drove with the police around him on Tesla Autopilot for 15 minutes until he woke up. During the check, the agents found steering weights. These weights are used to hang on the steering wheel to make the software think your hands are holding the steering wheel. The system checks this through control inputs. So if you have weight on one side of the steering wheel, the system thinks you’re steering slightly to the left. This steering to the left is done by the software, which keeps you in the right lane.

The Tesla driver who drove on the German autobahn while he was sleeping with Tesla Autopilot on has to surrender his driver’s license pending the court’s decision on his pink passport and other potential penalties.