Police in British Columbia are reminding electric vehicle owners that self-driving features are illegal on the province’s roadways after a woman was pulled over and fined for appearing to sleep behind the wheel.
The B.C. Highway Patrol says an officer spotted the Tesla driver with her eyes closed and her arms crossed while travelling eastbound on the Trans-Canada Highway during the morning rush hour on March 17.
“The driver appeared to be literally asleep at the wheel,” Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said in a news release Monday.
“The driver said that she had ‘zoned out’ but was fully alert with her hands on the steering wheel,” McLaughlin said, noting that it was raining at the time and road conditions were slippery. “In-car police video did not support the driver’s claim.”
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“It is illegal in British Columbia to use ‘self-driving mode’ on your vehicles. There are some autonomous features that are permissible under the MVA like ‘lane departure warning’ and things like that, but anything that makes the vehicle fully autonomous so you’re not participating in the operation of the vehicle is illegal…”
