A video that quickly spread online, captured by a driver in British Columbia, Canada, appears to capture a woman sleeping while driving her Tesla vehicle. The recording sparked intense discussion about the dangers of complacency with assisted driving technology.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) authorities have launched an investigation following the widespread circulation of images showing the driver apparently unconscious as her Tesla travels along a busy road in the southeast of the province.
The footage was recorded by Carleigh King, another driver, on a Sunday afternoon, while traveling along the Trans-Canada Highway, between the cities of Golden and Revelstoke.
In the recording, it is possible to observe a woman inside a gray Tesla, sitting in the driver’s seat with her eyes closed and her hands away from the steering wheel, while the car continues its journey along the expressway.
King further reported that there were two children present in the back seat of the vehicle, although this information has not been officially confirmed by the Revelstoke RCMP.
Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief of electric transport news portal Electrek, commented that there is a possibility that the driver found a way to bypass the car’s monitoring system.
He explained that the vehicle manual requires, each time the automation function is activated, that a pop-up message alerts the driver about the need to pay attention to the road.
A camera system, located above the rear-view mirror, tracks the driver’s eyes and alerts him to press the steering wheel if he looks away for an extended period of time.
However, Lambert pointed out that there are methods to get around these rules, including the use of polarized sunglasses and plug-in devices designed to disable monitoring warnings.
“This driver is wearing sunglasses…so that’s definitely part of the equation,” Lambert noted when reviewing the video.
“I notice that she has an accessory around the steering wheel, like a cover. I don’t know if this will have any role in deactivating the monitoring system, but it is possible that it will,” he added.
Lambert highlighted that the increasing sophistication of autonomous driving technology leads some drivers to become overconfident and complacent.
“You see it being so good that you’re super confident… but the data we’re seeing now still points to a critical incident every 4,000 to 5,000 miles a year, which is about 5,000 miles. Which might not seem so bad… But a human driver can easily go 300,000 miles without having an accident.”
According to the classification of the Society of Automotive Engineers, recognized in British Columbia, there are six levels of vehicle automation, ranging from level 0 to 5.
Level 0 indicates the absence of automation, while levels 1 and 2 include driver assistance technologies.
Kyla Lee, a lawyer at Acumen Law in Vancouver, clarified that “the vehicle is essentially required to assist the driver in operating the car. This includes lane departure warnings, automatic braking, among other features.”
Changes to the Motor Vehicles Law, which came into force in April 2024, prohibit the driving of level 3 or higher automated vehicles, which eliminate the need for a person to drive the car.
Corporal Michael McLaughlin, media relations officer for the British Columbia Highway Patrol, said the province is taking a cautious stance for now.
“You must always be alert, sober, fully focused on the road, with at least one hand on the steering wheel… It is not legal to rely on fully autonomous driving technologies in British Columbia,” he emphasized.
He reiterated that “you can’t let the robot drive your car for you.”
Lawyer Lee indicated that the driver in the viral video could face several legal implications due to the incident.
“This can range from a simple fine for a traffic violation to criminal charges for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle,” he detailed.
“There could also be criminal charges related to negligence if there are children in the vehicle and they are put at risk by the driver’s lack of supervision while the vehicle is moving on the highway,” the lawyer concluded.
