Sleeping Tesla driver reportedly pulled over by German police

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A 45-year-old man is facing traffic charges in Germany after allegedly falling asleep at the wheel of a Tesla while on Autopilot, and perhaps under the influence of drugs. A press release from Bavarian Police, dug up by Teslarati,  say the man showed “drug-typical abnormalities” when pulled him over at around noon on the A70 from Bamberg in the direction of Bayreuth.

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Police were out on patrol when they came across a Tesla that appeared to be using Autopilot to stay in its lane while its driver was dozing off. They report that the Tesla was travelling at about 110 kilometres per hour, and quite consistently kept its distance from a patrol car that pulled ahead of it, all the way from the Viereth-Trunstadt to the Bamberg-Hafen junction.

According to police, officers saw the man, whose identity is being withheld, asleep and reclined in his seat. After about 15 minutes of his not responding to signals to stop or to repeated honking, the man finally woke up and followed instructions by police to pull over, a statement reads.

A steering wheel weight was found in the footwell of the Tesla, which officers say was likely attached to the steering wheel to “trick the vehicle’s safety system by pretending that your hand is on the wheel.”

The driver now faces charges of endangering road traffic and has been forced to surrender his driver’s licence until the matter is settled in court.