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Tribune News Service

It was about 3:30 in the morning, and the car was cruising south on Highway 101 in the northern California town of Redwood City when the police highway patrol unit pulled alongside and observed the inexplicable.
The driver was asleep.
The officers eased behind the car, which was doing about 110km/h (70mph), and hit the flashing lights and siren. No response.
It was then that the officers invented what the California Highway Patrol (CHP) says is a new manoeuvre in highway traffic control.
Deducing that the Tesla Model 3 was running on autopilot, the officers called for backup and prepared to employ a stratagem.

After a second unit caught up to block any traffic coming from behind, the original car sped up to get in front of the Tesla, then gradually slowed to a stop.
The cameras and computer algorithms of the vehicle’s self-driving system did their job, slowing to avoid ramming the officer’s car.
Several kilometres from the first contact, the Tesla slowed to a full stop.
Tesla ‘driver’ turns on autopilot and climbs into the passenger seat while going down British highway
According to the report on the November 30 incident released by the CHP, the officers had to knock on the window to rouse the driver, identified as Alexander Joseph Samek, 45.
While one officer took Samek to a nearby service station to conduct an investigation, the other drove the Tesla off the freeway.

JUST IN: CHP Identify driver of Tesla arrested on DUI suspicion as 45-year-old Alexander Samek from Los Altos.
CHP is investigating if the #Tesla Model S was in self-driving mode on Hwy 101 in Palo Alto. https://t.co/NZhL38v6OG pic.twitter.com/S03C1yXsBe
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) November 30, 2018

Samek was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and transported to San Mateo County Jail.
The report said the CHP could not confirm that the vehicle was on autopilot, but “considering the vehicle’s ability to slow to a stop when Samek was asleep, it appears the ‘driver assist’ feature may have been active at the time.”

JUST IN: Booking photo of @CityofLosAltos planning commission chair Alexander Samek. He was arrested after officers found him asleep - and drunk - while behind the wheel of his 2017 Tesla Model S going 70mph on Hwy 101, per @CHP_RedwoodCity. 515,6,7p @KTVU pic.twitter.com/oOfGSdT2Em
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) December 1, 2018

On its website, Tesla says that all of its vehicles including Model 3 “have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver”.
However, there have been several crashes involving Teslas in autopilot mode, and the company instructs drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times.
Officer Art Montiel, public information officer for the CHP’s Redwood City office, said there was no training for the situation the officers encountered and attributed the outcome to their “quick thinking.”


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Tesla

How California police stopped  Tesla Model 3 doing 110km/h on autopilot as ‘driver’ slept

Tesla says all of its vehicles including Model 3 ‘have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver’. File photo: TNS

A Tesla Model 3 in Auburn Hills, Mich., on April 25, 2018. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press/TNS)

Tesla ‘driver’ turns on autopilot and climbs into the passenger seat while going down British highway

The Tesla Model S is a full-sized all-electric five-door, luxury liftback. It’s autopilot feature is only intended for use with a driver still holding onto the wheel. Photo: TNS

Attendees sit inside a Tesla Inc. Model S P100D electric vehicle (EV) at the EV Trend Korea exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, April 12, 2018. The exhibition runs through April 15. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

Tesla with Autopilot slams into truck stopped at red light at 60mph – apparently without braking

A Tesla Model S with an Autopilot feature slammed into the back of a fire department mechanic’s truck at a stop light on Friday, apparently without braking. Photo: South Jordan Police Department via AP

In this Friday, May 11, 2018, photo released by the South Jordan Police Department shows a traffic collision involving a Tesla Model S sedan with a Fire Department mechanic truck stopped at a red light in South Jordan, Utah. Witnesses indicated the Tesla Model S did not brake prior to impact. Police Sgt. Samuel Winkler said the car's air bags were activated and that the Tesla's 28-year-old driver suffered a broken right ankle, while the driver of the mechanic truck didn't require treatment. Police in a Salt Lake City suburb say it's not immediately known whether a Tesla Model S sedan's semi-autonomous Autopilot driving system was in use when it rear-ended a truck apparently without braking before impact at approximately 60 mph. (South Jordan Police Department via AP)

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Police maneouver in front Tesla, forcing the semi-autonomous sedan to a complete stop
Driver was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol


Driver was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol.


How California police stopped Tesla Model 3 doing 110km/h on autopilot as ‘driver’ slept

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Police maneouver in front Tesla, forcing the semi-autonomous sedan to a complete stop Driver was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol

Police maneouver in front Tesla, forcing the semi-autonomous sedan to a complete stop

Driver was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol