The Tesla autopilot tried to escape from the police. How is that possible?

Tesla Model S almost managed to escape from police

The cheapest Tesla car can be bought for about $35,000. If you pay about 6,000 more, you can connect the autopilot function. This means that if necessary, the car can drive on its own roads, carefully changing lanes. Unfortunately, many owners of cars with autopilot do not understand that it is too early to fully trust the technology. Police in Canada recently reported the arrest of a 20-year-old man who turned on and slept in a reclined seat. When the police turned on the siren, the car began to pick up speed and tried to escape from the chase. Sounds like the plot of a comedy on the topic of technology of the future - you would think that the car included the option of "get away from the police." But seriously, how did the car be able to disperse itself after the police siren turned on? This story is full of mysteries.

Sleeping Tesla owner

According to the information, the unusual chase took place in July 2020. Police said they noticed a Tesla Model S driving at 140 kilometres per hour on one summer day. No one was seen inside the cabin, suggesting that the driver and his passenger were asleep while riding in the back seats. When police tried to catch up with the intruders and turned on the siren, the Tesla car accelerated to 150 kilometers per hour, which was counted as an attempt to escape from the chase. Eventually, the 20-year-old driver and his passenger were caught and deprived of their rights for 24 hours. A court will be held in December, where the driver will be charged.

If you forget, the Tesla Model S looks like this

All this sounds like another incident that occurred due to excessive confidence in the autopilot Tesla. Recently, I told about a case when a Tesla car parked on the side of the road police car. Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident, but the driver was arrested. In the course of clarifying the details, he admitted that he did not follow the road at all, because he fully trusted the driving of the car. After all, it is very convenient to turn on the autopilot and allow the car to bring you to the desired point on the map. Probably that's what the owner of the car thought, because during the trip he watched the movie on his smartphone.

Autopilot imperfection

The above incident seems very truthful, because turning on the autopilot and putting your hands on the steering wheel can really do extraneous things. But the case that took place in Canada, absolutely not believe. After all, if the driver was sleeping on the seat thrown back, the autopilot would simply not work - it is important that the hands are on the steering wheel. In addition, it is not clear how the car was able to accelerate itself at the sight of the police. Jokes are jokes, but Tesla cars really don't have the "hide from the police" feature. Unless, of course, the driver is a hacker who can.

In 2018, Tesla owners came up with an "Autopilot Buddy" clip that mimics holding the steering wheel in their hands

Due to the lack of explanations from the police, it is hard to believe in the situation - someone clearly lied. Most likely, the driver still kept control of everything that happens. After all, on the Internet there are a lot of photos, where the driver of Tesla cars sit supposedly sleeping people. The authors of Ars Technica are sure that all these pictures are staged. The described case is also similar to the staged and at the sight of the police the driver pressed the gas pedal on his own. But it is worth noting that even if it was some kind of prank, the prankster will still be punished. After all, Tesla autopilot is not a toy and sometimes it can make such a serious mistake that some people will be either in the hospital or behind bars. Even Police Chief Gary Graham reminded that autopilot is just an additional security system.

Most likely, such photos are staged

In 2019, it became known that the tesla autopilot killed four people. Today, this figure may be even higher, because some incidents may not be covered in the news. In one of the incidents, a Tesla car with the autopilot turned on drove under the truck - it tore off the roof, which led to the death of the 50-year-old driver. Other terrible situations that have arisen with Tesla cars and their owners, you can read .