BURST
A day after a B.C. woman made headlines for sleeping behind the wheel of her self-driven Tesla, another Tesla driver has been cited for the same thing — but this had the potential to be more serious.
An RCMP officer answering an emergency call on Aug. 27 was interrupted after passing a Tesla driver who had his eyes closed and both hands off the steering wheel as he navigated rush hour on Highway 1 near 248th Street in Langley.
“The police officer’s observations and his body worn camera appeared to show the Tesla driver was asleep, though the driver claimed otherwise,” said RCMP Sgt. Michael McLaughlin. “This traffic stop took a valuable resource away from another police call. If drivers would stop sleeping behind the wheel, we could go help people who need us more.
“We can’t ignore drivers who are inattentive to this degree. The potential for severe injury or death is too high. If you’re sleeping, you’re forcing us to pull you over, and that means we’re going to leave you with financial consequences.”
The officer’s original call, of a man known to police walking on the highway, was answered by other RCMP members.
The driver received citations totalling $449, and reminded that of level three or higher driver assist — fully autonomous driving — is illegal in B.C. without human monitoring. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has a scale of one to five for driver automation features, with levels one and two including things like automatic braking and lane assist.
A 45-year-old Maple Ridge woman was fined earlier this week after the passenger in another vehicle filmed her apparently asleep at the wheel of her Tesla. RCMP tracked her down at home. These incidents are just the most recent of a spate of videos and traffic stops of Tesla drivers falling asleep at the wheel.