Tesla FSD Foiled By Sunglasses On Driver Asleep At The Wheel On Canadian Mountain Pass
Luckily this is not yet another story about a Tesla with its "Full Self-Driving" system turned on leading to a fatal crash. If anything, the system may have prevented a crash in this case. But FSD is supposed to detect if a driver is not paying attention, drowsy, or asleep, and completely failed to do so.
Tech Times reports that Carleigh King was pulled over on the side of Trans-Canada Highway 1 when she noticed a gray Tesla drive by with the driver slumped over. She caught up to the Tesla and shot video of the driver, wearing large sunglasses, asleep at the wheel as the Tesla drove over a twisty mountain pass between Golden and Revelstoke.
King reported the Tesla to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; authorities did not encounter it on the road, and there are no reports of a crash. However, the Revelstoke RCMP has its license plate and is following up with the owner. British Columbia law prohibits the use of Level 3 and above automated driving systems on public roads. FSD is a Level 2 system, which is legal, but requires drivers to be "awake, alert, and in control, a hand on the wheel, feet near or on the pedals at all times." Tech Times also reports that there were two children in the back of the car at the time, though they are not visible in the video posted to Castanet News.
What went wrong?
Although Tesla calls it system "Full Self-Driving," and previously "Autopilot," it still requires the human behind the wheel to remain in control and able to take over driving duties at any time. You definitely can't go to sleep with the system on, let alone look away from the road. A cabin camera mounted below the rear view mirror is supposed to monitor the driver's eyes and face to make sure they are looking forward and their eyes are on the road. However, this particular driver was wearing large sunglasses, preventing the camera-based system from seeing the driver's eyes. It's a huge oversight, considering how many drivers wear sunglasses on bright days.
The system then resorted to measuring driver attention by detecting torque on the steering wheel from the driver's hand touching it. It's unclear from the video whether the sleeping driver had a hand on the wheel or not. A steering wheel cover is clearly visible, which may or may not affect this torque detection. As a result, the Tesla kept driving down the road rather than recognizing that the driver was asleep, deactivating FSD, and bringing the car to a stop.
In this case, FSD appears to have saved this driver (and possibly two children) from a crash on a curvy mountain pass, which is certainly a good thing. We don't know whether the driver made a massive but honest mistake, or deliberately gamed the system to grab a catnap along the way. Either way, FSD should not have continued to drive at all while the driver was passed out or asleep. Stopping in the middle of the highway isn't the best outcome, but it's certainly better than yet another FSD-related death.