Allegedly Passed Out Drunk on Bay Bridge, Tesla Driver Claims Car Was on “Autopilot”

[Megalith]

Can you get away with driving under the influence by saying that your Tesla was on autopilot? Of course not. That was the excuse a man passed out on the Bay Bridge gave to highway patrol, but he was arrested anyway. Having more than twice the legal blood alcohol content level did not help.

Tesla has long advised autopilot drivers to maintain consciousness while driving and to keep their hands on the steering wheel should anything go wrong. In response to this instance, a spokesperson for the company tells SFGATE that "autopilot is intended for use only with a fully attentive driver."

 

[ir0nw0lf]

If you own a Tesla, apologies if this sounds like I am throwing you all under the bus, but...

DAMN, are Tesla owners *really* this dense? Just how many excuses can there be left to try to use to throw the blame on stuff like the autopilot functionality?

 

[[21CW]killerofall]

If you own a Tesla, apologies if this sounds like I am throwing you all under the bus, but...

DAMN, are Tesla owners *really* this dense? Just how many excuses can there be left to try to use to throw the blame on stuff like the autopilot functionality?

No. It is just stupid people doing stupid things. Nothing to do with owning a Tesla.

 

[Nolan7689]

If I’m supposed to be at full attention with both hands on the wheel, the fuck is the point of autopilot? I want to catch a nap on the way to work dammit.

 

[RogueTadhg]

If I’m supposed to be at full attention with both hands on the wheel, the fuck is the point of autopilot? I want to catch a nap on the way to work dammit.

This.

If I just sit there, watching the road go back and forth - I'm going to fall asleep. Tesla might need to have their cars with some type of fingerprint heart rate monitor if auto pilot is used.

But then again owners like (See video below) exist where he sold his tesla because his rear tires were showing it's 'treads'.


Problem: Rear-Wheel drive car has no more tread on the 'treads'. Solution: Sell the car.

Darwin needs to do his job better.

 

[tangoseal]

I wished I could afford a Tesla. I would get a Model S like yesterday if I had the monies. Maybe one day.

 

[Nolan7689]

I wished I could afford a Tesla. I would get a Model S like yesterday if I had the monies. Maybe one day.

Me too, if I had the money I’d go full Jay Leno and have a different car or truck for each day of the month.

As it is I think I’ll settle for trading sideways into a Diesel Colorado.

 

[homernoy]

I'm not trying to make light of the seriousness of drunk driving, but when I turned 21 in 1986 we did it all the time and on purpose. We would buy beer, pick all of our favorite 'tapes', and pick a really lonely stretch of road (doesn't exist in Western Washington anymore) east of Seattle. We would cruise around listening to music and drink cheap beer. Every once in awhile we'd get pulled over, and they always let us go, insisting we go directly home. We almost never did.

That being said, I don't remember anyone ever being inebriated while driving. Probably right between a buzz and encroaching drunk. The Police, Duran Duran, The Cure, The Smiths, Oingo Boingo, and the list goes on to what music we would crank in our cars back 'in the good old day's'.

 

[Dead Parrot]

If you own a Tesla, apologies if this sounds like I am throwing you all under the bus, but...

DAMN, are Tesla owners *really* this dense? Just how many excuses can there be left to try to use to throw the blame on stuff like the autopilot functionality?

I think the part about "Alcohol was involved" pretty well covered it.

 

[Jim Kim]

Fool, all he needed was some h2o

 

[Krenum]

Fool, all he needed was some h2o

What a lazy bastard. I actually enjoy driving with my hands. But I guess if you didnt have any hands, this would be awesome.

 

[Derangel]

This.

If I just sit there, watching the road go back and forth - I'm going to fall asleep. Tesla might need to have their cars with some type of fingerprint heart rate monitor if auto pilot is used.

But then again owners like (See video below) exist where he sold his tesla because his rear tires were showing it's 'treads'.


Problem: Rear-Wheel drive car has no more tread on the 'treads'. Solution: Sell the car.

Darwin needs to do his job better.

If you can't use autopilot without falling asleep then you shouldn't use autopilot. The roads are not remotely ready for fully autonomous driving. Autopilot seems like a nice alternative to cruise control. Touching the wheel every now and then is a good safety feature, especially when there are so many shitty drivers on the roads and humans are better at making split-second decisions to avoid crashing then an AI would (at least at this point).

 

[WBurchnall]

owners like (See video below) exist where he sold his tesla because his rear tires were showing it's 'treads'.

I watched the video and that's not exactly what he said. He stated his tires wore prematurely due to a defective part, which was on recall, and took four months to get a replacement. He goes on to state that it is rear wheel drive and during conditions in his area (rain/2 inches of snow) the car would skid out when trying to accelerate and oddly drift in one direction or another direction. He states safety and concern with how the car was handling could lead to an accident and he's concerned about his family's well being if he were to get into an accident as his reason for selling. The uneven wear on the tire and 4 months to get a part replaced that was on recall was not mentioned as a reason.

 

[Nolan7689]

I watched the video and that's not exactly what he said. He stated his tires wore prematurely due to a defective part, which was on recall, and took four months to get a replacement. He goes on to state that it is rear wheel drive and during conditions in his area (rain/2 inches of snow) the car would skid out when trying to accelerate and oddly drift in one direction or another direction. He states safety and concern with how the car was handling could lead to an accident and he's concerned about his family's well being if he were to get into an accident as his reason for selling. The uneven wear on the tire and 4 months to get a part replaced that was on recall was not mentioned as a reason.

Alternatively. Growing up in a snowy wet area (Michigan) and only ever owning RWD trucks (until 4 years ago a 4WD truck and 1 year ago a RWD car), if the conditions are not ideal lose the lead foot, especially if you don’t have working traction control.

His concerns are valid regardless of my statement, and his vehicle does have more power and instant torque, so I’m sure it is harder to keep the tires from spinning on a slippery take off. I’m just dubious on it being impossible and warranting selling the vehicle.

 

[vegeta535]

Alternatively. Growing up in a snowy wet area (Michigan) and only ever owning RWD trucks (until 4 years ago a 4WD truck and 1 year ago a RWD car), if the conditions are not ideal lose the lead foot, especially if you don’t have working traction control.

His concerns are valid regardless of my statement, and his vehicle does have more power and instant torque, so I’m sure it is harder to keep the tires from spinning on a slippery take off. I’m just dubious on it being impossible and warranting selling the vehicle.

This. People are dumb saying you can't drive a rear wheel drive car in rain/snow. I own a e46 M3 and people go crazy when I drive it in snow and wonder how I haven't wrecked it yet. And yet people wonder how they spin out and crash their AWD trucks/cars when they are speeding through the snow.

 

[Cyraxx]

I said this from the very start and it still holds true today... Tesla using the word/term "Autopilot" for the name of their driving was an incredibly fucking stupid idea. It's very much in reason to say if something has "Autopilot" that you can expect the car to be able to navigate and perform on its own for the most part.

That said, I'm not defending a drunk asshole that chose to drive. I'm just saying they should have avoided that name and they would have less lawsuits.

 

[RogueTadhg]

If you can't use autopilot without falling asleep then you shouldn't use autopilot. The roads are not remotely ready for fully autonomous driving. Autopilot seems like a nice alternative to cruise control. Touching the wheel every now and then is a good safety feature, especially when there are so many shitty drivers on the roads and humans are better at making split-second decisions to avoid crashing then an AI would (at least at this point).

Most of people use "Autopilot" when they drive home anyways. If you've ever been unable to recall the drive home... I've literally woken up in my bed wonderful how the hell I got there. I don't have a Tesla. So that's not the autopilot I'm talking about. I mean being able to physically drive for a good distance and blanking out the entire way.


...I work a lot.

 

[MatsSvensson]

So we are already at the point where artificial intelligence can replace non-artificial stupidity.

Next step:
Artificial intelligence replaces non-artificial intelligence.


Next step after that:
Artificial intelligence replaces replaces non-artificial intelligence with something less annoying that knows how to STFU when it's told to.

 

[rgraze911]

If the car was on autopilot how did he get pulled over? Was the auto pilot swerving or something? If he was passed out did the car stop? Oh stuck in traffic and apparently the car didnt keep going again?

 

[BloodyIron]

Sure would be nice if autopilot was that good!

 

[kirbyrj]

I'm not trying to make light of the seriousness of drunk driving, but when I turned 21 in 1986 we did it all the time and on purpose. We would buy beer, pick all of our favorite 'tapes', and pick a really lonely stretch of road (doesn't exist in Western Washington anymore) east of Seattle. We would cruise around listening to music and drink cheap beer. Every once in awhile we'd get pulled over, and they always let us go, insisting we go directly home. We almost never did.

That being said, I don't remember anyone ever being inebriated while driving. Probably right between a buzz and encroaching drunk. The Police, Duran Duran, The Cure, The Smiths, Oingo Boingo, and the list goes on to what music we would crank in our cars back 'in the good old day's'.

The difference between then and now...Mother's Against Drunk Driving. Back then the police looked at drunk driving like a speeding ticket, hence your "just go home" type of warning. Nowadays, cops get fired for letting drunks go, especially if they crash after their police interaction.

 

[Derangel]

If the car was on autopilot how did he get pulled over? Was the auto pilot swerving or something? If he was passed out did the car stop? Oh stuck in traffic and apparently the car didnt keep going again?

If you don't touch the wheel every so often then autopilot will disengage and stop the car. Stupidly it stops the car in the middle of the road instead of pulling over to the side or something.

 

[theBrownLlama]

that's why rational men has said autopilot as autopilots are suppose to work is still a long way to go

 

[Makaveli@BETA]

If I’m supposed to be at full attention with both hands on the wheel, the fuck is the point of autopilot? I want to catch a nap on the way to work dammit.

This is the whole problem with this.

This is should be renamed its not an autopilot, you are not sitting in the cockpit of an airplane.

i'm glad that tool got arrested and hopefully enough people read the story to not follow your line of thinking. Take a cab to work if you want to sleep!

 

[Nolan7689]

This is the whole problem with this.

This is should be renamed its not an autopilot, you are not sitting in the cockpit of an airplane.

i'm glad that tool got arrested and hopefully enough people read the story to not follow your line of thinking. Take a cab to work if you want to sleep!

I was being mildly facetious.

But honestly, their recommendation for using autopilots is essentially just saying to drive yourself as normal. Seems a pointless feature to me if you aren’t able to at least shift your focus. Obviously no body should be sleeping though.

 

[Nanogrip]

If you are the lone occupant and operator of a moving car, you are a DRIVER eriod:

 

[toast0]

I was being mildly facetious.

But honestly, their recommendation for using autopilots is essentially just saying to drive yourself as normal. Seems a pointless feature to me if you aren’t able to at least shift your focus. Obviously no body should be sleeping though.

All the other car manufacturers that include similar features call it what it is: lane keeping assistance; adaptive cruise control/forward collision avoidance. Adaptive cruise control and lane keeping reduce driving fatigue because you don't have to stay quite as focused; forward collision avoidance helps when some asshat pulls into your lane when they shouldn't. (OTOH, asshats with Tesla's autopilot set to cruise at 80 even though traffic is going 20 increase fatigue of people the pull in behind; just because the car can get up to 80 and back down to 20 while it catches up 5 car lengths doesn't mean it should)