Police nabbed the man while he was exiting the Nøstved Tunnel in Norway
by Brad Anderson
19 minutes ago
- Norwegian driver fined after speeding 40 km/h over limit in Tesla using Autopilot.
- Court said the driver had grossly neglected his duty to monitor road conditions.
- Man claimed the car didn’t detect the reduced speed limits in a tunnel zone.
Despite what the term ‘Autopilot’ may make some people believe, Tesla’s driver-assistance system is not a fully autonomous driving technology, and a Tesla owner in Norway has just learned this firsthand.
The man was clocked at 90 km/h (56 mph) in a 50 km/h (31 mph) zone, and in court to contest the fine, he claimed the electric car had failed to detect a change in the speed limit automatically, which he said explained his speeding.
The incident happened through the Nøstved Tunnel in Norway. Usually, the speed limit in this tunnel is 90 km/h (56 mph). However, during an evening in March, the right-hand lane had been closed off, and the speed limit was temporarily reduced to 70 km/h (43 mph), and then down to 50 km/h (31 mph).
Read: Europeans Are Done With Tesla Except For One Country That Can’t Stop Buying
However, the driver of the Tesla failed to slow down, and police were waiting at the exit of the tunnel, recording him driving 40 km/h (25 mph) over the 50 km/h speed limit. The driver thought it would be a wise idea to try and fight the charges in court, but it backfired.
He argued that there were no signs indicating that the speed limit had been temporarily reduced, but the court said this wasn’t true, noting that neither the tariff control center, police, nor other road users had reported any issues with the sigange. The man also claimed that he had set his car’s Autopilot system to automatically follow the speed limit, and it failed to slow for the 70 km/h and 50 km/h zones.
The court said in its ruling that “it is in any case the defendant’s obligation to be aware of the speed limit at all times, and that it would be negligent to rely blindly on the car’s technical systems being correctly set. The court therefore finds it proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendant acted as described in the indictment, and that he at the very least acted with gross negligence. He is therefore convicted in accordance with the charges.”
Autopilot Doesn’t Pay Your Fines
The driver was fined 16,500 kroner ($1,615), ordered to pay 2,000 kroner ($196) in legal fees, and had his license suspended for nine months, according to TV2. On the bright side, he now has plenty of time to reflect on the dangers of trusting a car to do all the thinking.
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