18-Month Ban For Leaving Driver Seat Vacant While On Tesla Autopilot
There apparently are some individuals in this world who don’t care much for their life or the lives of others and, unfortunately, some of those individuals are driving on roads.
Bhavesh Patel, 39, was caught on video when sitting in the passenger seat in a Tesla Model S on the highway, enjoying Autopilot driving. But Tesla Autopilot is not autonomous and even if it was, there’s no law in the UK allowing one to drive autonomous cars on public roads.
For the next one and a half years, he will not be allowed to drive any car at all.
Tesla Autopilot
“The driver, from Nottingham, pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving after admitting he switched seats when he turned on the car’s autopilot mode, leaving the car’s brakes and steering wheel unmanned.
The driver admitted that the stunt in May last year had been silly, but insisted that he was simply “the unlucky one who got caught” trying out the “amazing” feature on the car.”
“As well as the 18-month driving ban he was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also put on a 10-day rehabilitation programme and will have to pay £1,800 in costs.”
See Also – Watch Autopilot Save Tesla Model X From Collision
Source: theguardian.com
Categories: Tesla
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18 Comments on "18-Month Ban For Leaving Driver Seat Vacant While On Tesla Autopilot"
18 month suspension is too low. He should be glad he did not meet a concrete divider at 65 mph.
Good! Abuse of the system should cause him to lose his driver’s license.
I would have no objection if this idiot only endangered himself. As they say: “Think of it as evolution in action.”
But he had no right to endanger others on the road with this colossally stupid stunt.
I agree with Vich: An 18-month suspension is too little. He should lose his license permanently. He has shown himself to be a danger to himself and others, and should not ever again be allowed behind the wheel of a car.
I know that Tesla’s driver-assist feature don’t require a driver’s eyes on the road like some other carmakers’ systems (enforced via dash camera that tracks eyes); however, I thought I read a while back that in addition to requiring hands on the wheel, the car also had a seat sensor to make sure driver was in his/her seat?
@wavelet said: “, I thought… the car also had a seat sensor to make sure driver was in his/her seat?”
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Yes it does… he must of somehow defeated the seat sensor… large bag of onions?
That’s an excellent driver attention verification system Tesla has…
I mean seriously, can it not even detect that no one is in the drivers seat? Seems like kind of a flaw and has been repeatedly shown with Tesla drivers hopping in to the passenger or rear seats even.
Come on DJ…
Are you asking for anti idiots detection? What about texting and driving, is the same or even worse, at list autopilot was assisting, in eny other car texting distraction depends is worse.
“…can it not even detect that no one is in the drivers seat?”
It’s certainly designed to, with a sensor for weight in the driver’s seat, and a sensor for whether or not the driver’s seat belt is buckled, as well as periodic checks to see if the driver is attentive.
This idiot obviously went to a lot of effort to intentionally defeat all of Tesla’s safety checks.
A plate is all it takes to get caught.
How was that even possible? Tesla’s AP nanny is defeated easier than a Benjamin going against a Boring Co flame thrower!
If this happened in US, by now they were suing Tesla for the Autopilot name. Bravo UK, self responsibility still common sense in the rest of the world.
Big brother is watching.
In other Tesla news, four teenagers on their way to the prom in a Model S were in a horrific single-car crash. Two of the teens were ejected from the Tesla, one of whom died afterwards. RIP
http://www.fox19.com/story/38075669/teen-dies-from-injuries-suffered-in-prom-night-crash
http://www.fox19.com/clip/14309531/monroe-schools-gives-update-how-you-can-help-4-teens-injured-in-crash
https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/butler-county/monroe/monroe-hs-student-dies-after-prom-night-crash
“The three other students were taken by ambulances to West Chester Hospital and have since been released. “
This does not sound like a horrible crash, but the footage suggests otherwise. That Model S was in pretty bad shape. Given the fact that the other three occupants are already out of hospital, it seems to me like the one being ejected did not wear a seat belt.
I wouldn’t honestly have a problem with Tesla deactivating the Autopilot system on this vehicle until it is sold to someone else. If he can’t be trusted to not do stupid stuff then maybe he shouldn’t have access to the technology.
What is wrong with these people. You would think Tesla owners would be more educated than most people to afford an expensive vehicle. A plane has autopilot but there are still pilots. Tesla autopilot is just a fancy cruise control for now and has many limitations.