RCMP are currently conducting an investigation following the circulation of a video that seems to depict a driver sleeping behind the wheel of a Tesla car on a busy highway in southeastern British Columbia. The video was filmed by a fellow motorist named Carleigh King who was driving on the Trans-Canada Highway between Golden and Revelstoke on a Sunday afternoon.
In the footage, a woman in a grey Tesla is shown sitting in the driver’s seat with her eyes closed and hands off the steering wheel while the vehicle continues along the highway. Although Carleigh King mentioned seeing two children in the back seat of the car, this detail has not been confirmed by the Revelstoke RCMP.
Fred Lambert, the editor in chief of an electric transportation news website called Electrek, suggested that the driver may have bypassed the car’s monitoring system. He explained that the car manual mandates the driver to pay attention each time the automation feature is activated.
Lambert noted that the vehicle is equipped with a camera above the rearview mirror to track the driver’s eyes and prompt them to touch the steering wheel if they divert their gaze for an extended period. However, he highlighted that there are methods to evade these safety protocols, such as using polarized sunglasses and plug-in devices to disable the alerts.
Commenting on the incident, Lambert expressed concerns about some drivers becoming too reliant on self-driving technology due to its increasing sophistication. He emphasized that despite the technology’s advancements, statistics show a critical incident occurring every 4,000 to 5,000 miles annually, presenting a contrast to human drivers who can travel up to 300,000 miles without an accident.
The Society of Automotive Engineers’ classification, recognized by British Columbia, categorizes vehicle automation into six levels from 0 to 5. Levels 1 and 2 involve driver-assistance technologies like lane departure warnings and automatic braking.
Recent amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act, effective since April 2024, prohibit the operation of Level 3 or higher automated vehicles in British Columbia, which do not require human intervention to drive the vehicle. Corporal Michael McLaughlin from the B.C. Highway Patrol emphasized the importance of remaining attentive, sober, and fully focused on the road while driving, with at least one hand on the steering wheel, as full reliance on self-driving technologies is not permitted in the province.
Legal consequences for the driver in the viral video could range from a simple violation ticket to potential criminal charges for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, especially if children are endangered due to the driver’s lack of supervision while the vehicle is in motion.