A Tesla driver thought he had the perfect defense after being accused of speeding — until a police officer reminded him of one very important detail: he was still sitting behind the wheel.
A bodycam video making the rounds online shows a tense exchange between a Tesla driver and a police officer during a traffic stop. The driver appeared to argue that he shouldn’t be held responsible for the vehicle’s speed because Tesla’s driver-assistance system was operating the car.
But the officer wasn’t buying it.
According to the viral footage, the driver repeatedly tried to explain that he wasn’t technically driving because the Tesla was using its automated driving technology. The argument quickly turned into a back-and-forth over who was actually responsible for controlling the vehicle.
The officer’s response was essentially that using Tesla’s driver-assistance technology doesn’t erase the driver’s responsibility.
And that’s where things got awkward.
The driver appeared convinced that Autopilot changed the situation, while the officer maintained that the person behind the wheel remains responsible for the vehicle. The exchange was captured on bodycam, giving viewers a front-row seat to the unusual traffic stop.
Once the clip hit social media, people immediately started debating the driver’s argument.
Some viewers joked that the driver was trying to use Tesla’s technology as a legal loophole, while others pointed out that advanced driver-assistance systems aren’t the same thing as a completely autonomous vehicle.
Tesla’s Autopilot and other driver-assistance features are designed to help with driving tasks, but drivers are still expected to remain attentive and ready to take control. The technology doesn’t simply turn the person in the driver’s seat into a passenger.
That’s apparently what the officer wanted the driver to understand.
The exchange has since become another example of the growing confusion surrounding autonomous-driving technology and exactly who is responsible when something goes wrong.
As more drivers use systems capable of steering, accelerating and braking for them, encounters like this are likely to keep sparking arguments over what it actually means to be “driving.”
For this Tesla driver, however, the argument didn’t appear to go the way he expected.
Instead of convincing the officer that the car was responsible, the bodycam footage left social media users questioning whether he misunderstood what Tesla’s Autopilot system actually does.
And the internet, as usual, had plenty to say.
The clip has quickly turned into a viral debate about Tesla, Autopilot, speeding tickets and driver responsibility — with many viewers essentially asking the same question.