A teenage driver in California recently failed his driving test not for something he did but rather something that the Tesla Model 3 dd while he was driving.
Speaking with KPIX, 16-year-old Bruce Rosenblum revealed that he failed the test because of the Model 3’s regenerative braking system.
“Right off the bat, she warns me that the car was slowing down on its own, like at a stop sign,” Rosenblum recalled. “And she told me that happened twice, before we even left the parking lot. And then we continue on the test. We did everything that a test is supposed to have in it. And then she then pulled me in and told me I failed.”
While the Model 3’s regenerative braking system can be disabled, the teen wasn’t told to deactivate the system.
Watch Also: Get Inside A Tesla Model 3 Performance Hitting Its Top Speed On The Autobahn
Rosenblum’s father, Neal, filed a complaint with the local DMV office and after local media started to report on the story, the DMV’s Field Operations Division said it had revised the test score sheet and passed the 16-year-old.
“In essence, she was saying the car was braking itself,” Neal Rosenblum said. “And I said, ‘OK, but that’s how the car works.’ And she said, ‘But he needs to show me that he can actually move his foot from the gas pedal to the brake.’ And I said, ‘Ma’am, the car wasn’t set up like that. If he lifts his foot off the gas and starts to move it to the brake, the car is going to stop in the middle of the road.’”
The DMV has since issued guidance to staff that the activation of a regenerative braking system can no longer be used as the sole reason to score a driving error or critical driving error.