The police of Glendale, in California (United States), carried out a rather particular chase this Thursday.
The authorities indeed had to organize themselves to immobilize a Tesla whose Autopilot was activated.
On board, the driver of the vehicle was unconscious after consuming a large amount of alcohol, reports the ABC7 channel relayed by
Phonandroid
.
The police first saw the car hit a low wall at the side of the road without stopping.
The officers then chased the vehicle.
Are Tesla drivers less vigilant?
They quickly realized that it was a Tesla with the Autopilot turned on.
Through the windows, they could also see that the driver was unconscious.
The police then deployed several cars to immobilize the vehicle.
Knowing how the Autopilot worked, they managed to slow the Tesla to a stop without causing an accident.
The US Highway Code prohibits drivers from relying entirely on Tesla's autopilot function.
The woman, in a very intoxicated state at the time of the incident, was immediately taken into custody.
After the incident, Tesla made a point of recalling that its Autopilot was only a driving aid intended to support a "fully attentive driver".
This type of incident reinforces the conclusions of a recent study conducted by MIT researchers on Autopilot.
The report indicated that when the autopilot was activated, the vigilance of the drivers tended to decrease.
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