Being judged:
A Swedish driver slept like a rock behind the wheel of the E4 – for a long time.
The incident took place outside Linkjöping in January, writes We Bilägare [for abonnenter].
It was another driver, also this one in a Tesla, who was surprised that the car in front did not move from the left lane.
The passenger therefore drove onto the side of the first car. And discovered that the driver was asleep.
The awake person then got into the back, switched on the warning lights and contacted the police.
Have you read these cases?
Almost ran into the police
After some time – it is not known how long – the group was caught up by a police patrol that responded to the alert. He tried to wake the sleeping driver, initially without success.
When the driver finally woke up, he swerved straight into the police car, which had to brake and make an evasive maneuver to avoid being hit.
By then they had driven like this for four miles.
In the report, the police write that the driver did not seem to have understood what had actually happened. The police express shock and anger, on their own behalf, after the incident.
“Ashamed”
The sleepy driver has, or until now had, driving as a profession and made a living transporting cars from dealers to customers. The man initially claimed that he had one eye open, but has since admitted that he was asleep.
– I am extremely ashamed. This happened because I was exhausted. I drove a Tesla with autopilot, and that made me feel very safe, he has said in questioning.
The man is now being sentenced for careless behavior in traffic.
One question remains: How could it happen? The person in the car who spotted the man was specifically scouting to see if his hands were on the steering wheel, and he is absolutely certain that was not the case.
Strictly speaking, this should not be technically possible for more than a few seconds, although there are ways to “trick” the system.
Tesla in Sweden has declined to comment on the matter We Bilägare.
