Driver Caught Sleeping Behind His Tesla Model S Wheel Cruising at 70 mph
A California man was arrested Friday after he was caught sleeping and drunk behind the wheel of his Tesla, which was zooming down the highway, police said.
California Highway Patrol officers said they noticed 45-year-old Alexander Samek of Los Altos napping in the driver’s seat around 3:30 a.m. when officers drove next to him on Highway 101 heading south, KCBS reports. His grey Tesla Model S was going 70 miles per hour in a 65 zone.
Officers said that they were unable to get the man's attention.
"One of the officers basically ended up going in front of the vehicle and basically tried to slow it down," a California Highway Patrol spokesman told KCBS radio. The process took about seven minutes, and the car traveled for about seven miles before coming to a stop.
The driver was arrested for driving under the influence.
Obviously, that the Model S had its Autopilot system turned on, but officials said on Friday that they hadn't confirmed that yet.
On the other hand, Autopilot is supposed to detect if a driver's hands are on the wheel and disengage if they're not. Tesla's software is warning drivers in as little as 30 seconds.
In a similar incident last January, police again encountered a drunk man asleep behind the wheel of a Tesla car on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.
You guys offer free ad to tesla by promoting these on the first page incidents of this nature, too pitty...