A woman was filmed by a motorist appearing to be fast asleep in the driver’s seat of a Tesla while driving down a highway. The video is fueling controversy over security systems that are supposed to prevent such behavior.
In Canada (and not only) has become viral The video of one woman that travels amotorway of British Columbia while it seems sleep soundly on the driver’s seat of a car Tesla. In fact, it has the eyes closed and the head tilted to the side. The Images surreal images were filmed on the afternoon of Sunday 5 July by the user of Facebook Carleigh Kingwhile he was on the Trans-Canada Highway between Golden and Revelstoke.
The fact that a Tesla is capable of “drive independently” is not surprising at all, given that the car of the company Elon Musk are equipped with the advanced system Full Self-Driving (Supervised)based on 360° cameras – not Lidar or HD maps – that continuously send frames to neural networks to manage the brakes, accelerator and steering wheel in real time based on the surrounding environment. Nonetheless, although the technology is making giant strides and for some is already considered mature for true autonomous driving, whoever sits behind the wheel must hold it and look at the streetready to intervene at any time.
It is therefore an assisted driving system level 2 – not true autonomous driving at level 3 or higher, also illegal in Canada – in which thedriver must constantly supervise the behavior of the vehicle, intervene when required and with all the necessary responsibilities, should an event occur accident. Cars set up for assisted driving are equipped with safety systems to avoid incorrect behaviour; cameras placed on the mirror, dashboard or infotainment constantly monitor the driver checking whether he does not keep his hands on the steering wheel, does not look at the road or closes his eyes. When they detect an infringement, they send acoustic signals insistent until the vehicle is completely stopped if the illegal behavior continues (they also intervene in the event of illness). So why did the woman actually seem to be asleep in the Tesla, with the car continuing to move calmly?
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As explained by the CBC, electric vehicle expert at Electrek Fred Lambert pointed out that “the car manual states that every time the (automation) function is activated, a message appears warning you to pay attention”, exactly what we indicated earlier. However, the expert added that it is possible get around car control measures, such as wearing large polarized sunglasses and using “‘anti-jamming’ devices” to plug into the power outlet. Cars are in fact equipped with redundant control systems – which check for example the force applied to the steering wheel – but people have started to circumvent them with dedicated accessories.
The woman captured in the video is actually wearing large sunglasses, so she may have evaded the control of the on-board cameras. Lambert does not exclude that the steering wheel cover visible from the video may have somehow also bypassed the system that monitors the act of keeping one’s hands on the steering wheel, while using level 2 assisted driving. Likewise, it cannot be ruled out that the woman had just fallen asleep and that the car was “bombarding” her with warnings, and then stopping shortly thereafter.
What is certain is that the video shows that several rules were violated and this pushed the British Columbia police to launch an investigation by acquiring the images filmed by Carleigh King. The woman risks sanctions of a certain severity, ranging from simple fines for violations of the highway code at dangerous driving. The worst accusation, however, could be that of negligence towards minors, in the event that the presence of children aboard the car (currently not confirmed by the police, but potentially suggested by some stills).
Fully autonomous driving is still illegal in large parts of the world – except in specific areas of some cities, for example thanks to robotaxis – and would still require several refinements, although it is considered mature by some experts. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system is considered particularly accurate, but it is still a level 2; in Italy it is possible to book ad hoc tests to verify its effectiveness.
