Police Arrest Man Driving Tesla From The Back Seat
In a story that made national news, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on a California man who was arrested after multiple people saw him riding in the back seat of his Tesla with no one in the driver’s seat.
The California Highway Patrol received several reports about the driver, who was on an interstate at the time of the incident. The reports stated that the only person in the car was a smiling man in the back seat. Video was caught of the incident.
Police also discovered that the same man was arrested back in April for similar behavior. He has been charged with two counts of reckless driving and disobeying a police officer.
Teslas have a autopilot feature that lets the car drive itself, but it’s supposed to be used only under active supervision. California doesn’t allow this feature to be used without a driver in the driver’s seat. The arrested man told local news media that he trusts the autopilot system and that it is not dangerous.
However, there have been cases where the autopilot feature did not respond correctly and caused crashes. In Texas, a Model S crashed into a tree and burst into flames, killing two people inside just a few weeks ago. However, there is debate about whether the driver’s seat was empty at the time of the crash.
Eventually lawmakers will need to wrestle with the reality of increased autopiloting of cars.. Until then, please stay in the driver’s seat.
