Photo: RMCP Alberta via Twitter
Three months ago, a man - well, he is 20 years old, so you be the judge of that - was caught sleeping in his Tesla Model S while cruising down a highway in Canada doing roughly 87 mph (140 km/h) in a 68 mph (110 km/h) zone.
Ironically, the man could have probably gotten away with it had the vehicle stuck by the speed limits. However, the real shocker came when the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) intercepted the vehicle and saw it was empty. Obviously, it wasn't, but try telling your brain that when your eyes are saying the complete opposite.
Upon closer inspection, the mystery was quickly solved: the two occupants had their seats fully reclined and were actually napping while the Autopilot was taking care of the driving as best it could. It's unclear how far the vehicle was able to travel in this configuration, but it's safe to say everyone on that highway that got near the sleep-mobile and got away with it has rode their luck.
The police identified the man as Leran Cai and charged him with dangerous driving. Now, it would appear the case is going to court, meaning we could be witnessing a precedent that, in the absence of clear legislation on the matter, will likely be used in future similar cases.
Considering the circumstances of this event, it's hard to imagine self-driving technology will come out of this unscathed. You can beat around the bush as much as you want, at the end of the day it's the manufacturers' job to prevent the drivers from abusing the technology.
You can have a warning and a disclaimer pop up on the display when the system is activated, and legally speaking, you're in the clear, but that's not enough. Autopilot also requires periodic steering inputs from the driver, yet people have found a way around that as well.
We've seen other people leave the driver's seat while on the move, and the car kept on driving without any objection. It's clear Tesla isn't doing enough to prevent these incidents while also promoting the Autopilot aggressively, claiming it's ready for full autonomy. This a dangerous cocktail that can lead (and has led already) to unwanted situations.
Global News reports Cai is going on trial now and even though the first hearing is still one month away, it's hard to imagine he will get away with it. And he shouldn't, because as bad as Tesla is handling the whole Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Beta affair, at the end of the day, it was clearly his decision to ignore all the warnings - not to mention common sense - and go to sleep in the car.
However, this trial could finally trigger the authorities to come up with a set of rules that regulate self-driving cars and even driver-assist systems because it's obvious you can't rely on a bunch of commercial competitors (i.e., the automakers) to do it properly.
We'll have to wait and see whether that will be the case or not, but ironically enough, Tesla's relentless drive to get autonomous technology out on the street could turn out to be what makes the regulators intervene and set out stricter guidelines. You know, both in the way drivers/users can interact with these systems, but also in the way the manufacturers can name them.
At the end of the day, Tesla's biggest mistake is it relies too heavily on its clients and cares too little about how said clients can abuse the admittedly capable Autopilot (especially with the Full Self-Driving Beta update). However, as long as the legislation allows it, certain carmakers will always exploit these loopholes to gain an advantage. That's what a free market is all about, but when these exploits can lead to lives being lost, it's a clear sign the market needs outside regulation.
Upon closer inspection, the mystery was quickly solved: the two occupants had their seats fully reclined and were actually napping while the Autopilot was taking care of the driving as best it could. It's unclear how far the vehicle was able to travel in this configuration, but it's safe to say everyone on that highway that got near the sleep-mobile and got away with it has rode their luck.
The police identified the man as Leran Cai and charged him with dangerous driving. Now, it would appear the case is going to court, meaning we could be witnessing a precedent that, in the absence of clear legislation on the matter, will likely be used in future similar cases.
Considering the circumstances of this event, it's hard to imagine self-driving technology will come out of this unscathed. You can beat around the bush as much as you want, at the end of the day it's the manufacturers' job to prevent the drivers from abusing the technology.
You can have a warning and a disclaimer pop up on the display when the system is activated, and legally speaking, you're in the clear, but that's not enough. Autopilot also requires periodic steering inputs from the driver, yet people have found a way around that as well.
We've seen other people leave the driver's seat while on the move, and the car kept on driving without any objection. It's clear Tesla isn't doing enough to prevent these incidents while also promoting the Autopilot aggressively, claiming it's ready for full autonomy. This a dangerous cocktail that can lead (and has led already) to unwanted situations.
Global News reports Cai is going on trial now and even though the first hearing is still one month away, it's hard to imagine he will get away with it. And he shouldn't, because as bad as Tesla is handling the whole Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Beta affair, at the end of the day, it was clearly his decision to ignore all the warnings - not to mention common sense - and go to sleep in the car.
However, this trial could finally trigger the authorities to come up with a set of rules that regulate self-driving cars and even driver-assist systems because it's obvious you can't rely on a bunch of commercial competitors (i.e., the automakers) to do it properly.
We'll have to wait and see whether that will be the case or not, but ironically enough, Tesla's relentless drive to get autonomous technology out on the street could turn out to be what makes the regulators intervene and set out stricter guidelines. You know, both in the way drivers/users can interact with these systems, but also in the way the manufacturers can name them.
At the end of the day, Tesla's biggest mistake is it relies too heavily on its clients and cares too little about how said clients can abuse the admittedly capable Autopilot (especially with the Full Self-Driving Beta update). However, as long as the legislation allows it, certain carmakers will always exploit these loopholes to gain an advantage. That's what a free market is all about, but when these exploits can lead to lives being lost, it's a clear sign the market needs outside regulation.
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