A woman suspected of driving under the influence was handcuffed and taken into custody after her self-driving Tesla was purportedly set on Autopilot, eventually stopping on a California freeway overpass.
The vehicle hit a roadside wall shortly after 11 p.m. on Thursday and continued to drive despite the driver being unconscious, according to the California Highway Patrol incident log.
A media helicopter caught the incident showing the Tesla traveling at a relatively slow speed and eventually coming to a standstill after a CHP vehicle stopped directly in front of it.
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Other CHP vehicles had followed the car, trying to get it to stop but were unsuccessful.
The driver was arrested, but her name has not been released.
Autopilot has been frequently misused by Tesla drivers in the past. Police have caught several drivers who were drunk or in the back seat of the car as it drove down California’s busy highways.
Tesla says its Autopilot feature uses cameras and ultrasonic sensors to see and sense the car’s surroundings. The electric car maker says its “robust sensor and camera suite provides drivers with an awareness of their surroundings that a driver alone would not otherwise have.”
However, critics argue the car has trouble with parked emergency vehicles and perpendicular trucks in its path.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into 12 crashes as part of an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot system and has given the company until Oct. 22 to provide extensive information about its driver assistance systems.
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Autopilot is standard with all Tesla’s newer models, though the company sells a more advanced version name “Full Self Driving” for $10,000 or to subscribers for $199 a month. Despite the name, the company says on its website it does not make Tesla vehicles safe for operation without a driver at the wheel.
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Tags: News, Electric Vehicles, Tesla, California
Original Author: Barnini Chakraborty
Original Location: California Tesla driver using autopilot arrested on charges of DUI
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