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Tesla Driver Banned From Driving For 18 Months For Sitting in Passenger Seat (theguardian.com)
A 39-year-old motorist pointed his Tesla S60 down a highway at 40 mph -- while sitting in its passenger seat, leaning back with his hands behind his head. Another motorist spotted the empty driver's seat and filmed the car. Now (nearly a year later) the Tesla's owner "has been banned from driving for 18 months," the Guardian reports.
The driver, from Nottingham, pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving after admitting he switched seats when he turned on the car's autopilot mode, leaving the car's brakes and steering wheel unmanned. The driver admitted that the stunt in May last year had been silly, but insisted that he was simply "the unlucky one who got caught" trying out the "amazing" feature on the car.
As well as the 18-month driving ban he was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also put on a 10-day rehabilitation programme and will have to pay £1,800 in costs.
A police officer called the behavior "reckless," adding that autopilot controls like the ones on Teslas "are in no way a substitute for a competent motorist in the driving seat who can react appropriately to the road ahead."
As well as the 18-month driving ban he was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also put on a 10-day rehabilitation programme and will have to pay £1,800 in costs.
A police officer called the behavior "reckless," adding that autopilot controls like the ones on Teslas "are in no way a substitute for a competent motorist in the driving seat who can react appropriately to the road ahead."
The driver is named as Bhavesh Patel. I've been to India and Nottingham (forget all that stuff about Robin Hood, it's now part of Gujurat) and I can guarantee you that the very worst AI driving software is infinitely safer than any person with even a trace of Indian DNA.
Here in England there are driving offences such as "Driving without due care and attention", "Dangerous driving", "Driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit or unfit through drink" and so on. None of them is as heinous as "Driving like an Indian".
So give Bhavesh Patel a break, he was actually making our roads safer than if he had engaged his own laughably unsuitable brain matter and other genetic material for the task in hand. The man is a saint.
"Tesla royally fucked up by calling this autopilot. "
Exactly. It should be renamed the "Look & Learn: Drive like a Good, Honest, White Person Mode". This will ensure that those of us who don't need it know that we don't need it, while compellingly enhancing its educational, aspirational and life saving attributes for those who really ought to try it.