A Model S whizzes along a federal highway with 100 items. The driver nodded off on the steering wheel. (Screenshot: VGTV / t3n)
A man in Norway got drunk behind the wheel of his Model S and let himself be driven by the self-driving assistant. The car raced along the federal highway at 100 kilometers per hour while the driver had already sunk onto the steering wheel. Occupants of another car filmed the journey for about a minute. The driver assistant finally registered that its owner was no longer responding and parked the car in a tunnel.
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24-year-old denies having driven
The car then turns on the hazard warning lights. After a few minutes the police are on site and wake the driver. The drunk had stubbornly denied having driven, the officials reported. They took the necessary samples. In Norway, driving licenses are likely to be withdrawn for twelve months from a blood alcohol level of 0.4. Above 0.5 per mille there is a risk of imprisonment of over two weeks and a fine of one and a half times the gross salary.
Drivers refer to the driving system – without success
In the USA, too, it has happened that drunk people let themselves be driven by Tesla’s “Self Driving” system. California Highway Patrol officers arrested a driver who reportedly drunk that the autopilot was driving, not him. That was of no use to him, because the driver assistant only supports the driver – so he has to be just as sober as when driving without the autopilot.
