The driver of a Tesla Model 3 in Kenosha County, Wisconsin was recently fined after being spotted by police driving down the highway while asleep.
It is understood that police received a call about the man sleeping while behind the wheel of the Model 3 and quickly responded. Dashcam footage from one of the police vehicles shows officers driving alongside the Tesla and noting that the driver had his eyes closed and his head was down.
The officer then pulled behind the Model 3 and flicked on his lights but for approximately 2.2 miles, the Tesla driver failed to respond and continued to drive down the highway at 82 mph (132 km/h). Officers then pulled alongside the car with their lights and sirens blaring and finally, the driver pulled over to the side of the highway.
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For the following few minutes, officers and the driver of the Tesla Model 3 have a conversation and the latter repeatedly denies being asleep while behind the wheel, despite what the officer saw. Authorities then confirm that the driver had the ‘Navigate on Autopilot’ function that can guide the car from a highway’s on-ramp to an off-ramp enabled.
Despite clear evidence that Navigate on Autopilot was enabled, meaning the car’s Autosteer system was also enabled, the driver denied that he was using Autopilot. He was ultimately issued with a citation for inattentive driving and his car was towed because he had two priors for sleeping while behind the wheel.