Tesla On Autopilot Takes Sleeping Driver On Police Chase

A Tesla in Germany went full-Fast And Furious by taking its owner who was fast asleep at the wheel on a police chase.

It happened in Bamberg, a town in northern Bavaria, where a driver was traveling to the town of Bayreuth. The Bamberg Police's news release says that a 45-year-old man was driving along Autobahn 70 and had his Tesla on autopilot.

I'm not a Tesla owner, but I don't think you're supposed to get some shut-eye while your car drives itself.

That day will come, but it's not here yet. Just be patient

Unfortunately, this guy must have forgotten to flip the switch from "evil" to "good" on his Telsa. When police tried to pull him over, the car went Al Cowlings on them.

The car refused to pull over, and led police on a chase that hit 70 miles an hour. That seems fairly tame for the autobahn. It was my understanding you could drive as fast as you wanted on that road.

So this rogue Tesla was giving officers some trouble, but doing so at a somewhat reasonable pace.

The dashboard of a Tesla allows drivers to select "autopilot." A man in Germany recently learned that you're supposed to stay awake if you do that though. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Police Realized What They Were Dealing With

A patrol car pulled in front of the Tesla. Officers noticed it was maintaining the same distance from the car in front.

From there the Polizei started to do some math. When they pulled alongside the car, their suspicions were confirmed: the man had his seat reclined and was sawing logs.

After 15 minutes the driver woke up and took over control of his car. Once the police had the man stopped, it became clear that he hadn't accidentally dozed off and wasn't suffering from what the Germans would call "der chronic narcolepsy."

No, this was premeditated Tesla sleeping... also, police think he was on drugs.

The man has installed a device — which the police called a "steering wheel weight" that would keep the car's autopilot system from deactivating while he slept.

"This device is attached to the steering wheel to trick the vehicle's safety system by pretending that your hand is on the wheel," the news release said.

The investigation is reportedly ongoing, but in the meantime, that driver has lost his license.

That doesn't seem like the most fitting punishment in this case.

I mean, he wasn't the one driving.

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