Tesla-Driving Moron Banned For Autopilot 'Seat-Swapping'

This Tesla owner has been banned from driving for 18 months after being caught sitting in the passenger seat of his Model S with the autopilot function enabled

Matt Robinson

30 Apr 2018

Tesla’s Autopilot, and all other Level 2 Autonomous systems are supposed to be for driving ‘assistance’, and nothing more. And yet time and time again - despite several high profile accidents that have highlighted the limitations of such functions - we see idiots like this.

The particular fool we’re looking at today is Bhavesh Patel of Nottinghamshire, who was filmed on the M1 motorway near Hemel Hempstead last May sitting in the passenger seat of his Tesla Model S, with the driver’s seat completely vacant. Yep, he’d engaged Autopilot and then shuffled over to the passenger seat.

Police soon caught up with Patel after the footage was posted online. At St Albans Crown Court on 20 April, the 39-year-old pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was slapped with an 18-month driving ban.

During an earlier interview at Stevenage Police Station, Patel admitted his actions were “silly” but praised the “amazing” capabilities of the Model S, before branding himself the “unlucky one who got caught.”

Tesla-Driving Moron Banned For Autopilot 'Seat-Swapping'

PC Kirk Caldicutt from the Hertfordshire Road Policing Unit said:

“This case should serve as an example to all drivers who have access to autopilot controls and have thought about attempting something similar. I want to stress that they are in no way a substitute for a competent motorist in the driving seat who can react appropriately to the road ahead.”

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

OH AND BTW GUYS HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT TESLAS PRODUCTION BOTTLENECK ISSUES ???

What a nutcase

“Guy loses license for not driving, the reason why will surprise you”
there fixed the title for you.

btw you are a couple days late on this… I posted this a couple days ago

That’s one of the issues with self-driving cars at the moment. If you have a self driving car, you’re going to want to take advantage of the free time to kick back and relax, or perhaps go carspotting or something. However, since you have to watch the car and do nothing in the meantime, it forces people into boredom (or retardation) and this happens. Once this hurdle is over and Levels 3, 4 and 5 become mainstream this issue might finally be solved.