Autopilot saves life of Tesla driver who passed out at wheel

An intoxicated 24-year-old man from Norway fell unconscious while driving on Friday – fortunately for him, the Tesla autopilot feature saved him from what could have been a fatal accident.

The man, behind the wheel of his Tesla Model S vehicle was filmed by a fellow driver. The video shows Tesla’s autopilot mode in action as the car self-drives in the same lane and avoids any collisions.

The Model S eventually detected the driver’s unresponsiveness which prompted the vehicle to stop and turn on its hazard lights.

The police later addressed the incident on Twitter. Officials said:

“At 0540; a Tesla stops in the tunnel. It turns out to be a man 24 years old who has fallen asleep behind the wheel. He is also drunk, but stubbornly denies driving. Although there is a video of him from the car … Necessary samples have been taken.”

“The Nøstvet tunnel is closed while we wait for salvage. Cases are created and driver’s licenses are temporarily confiscated”, they added.

According to Tesla, the autopilot functions “are designed to assist you with the most burdensome parts of driving.

“Autopilot introduces new features and improves existing functionality to make your Tesla safer and more capable over time.

“Autopilot enables your car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane.

“Current autopilot features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

The incident prompted a mixed reaction from Twitter. Some Tesla enthusiasts were in awe of the vehicle’s capabilities. One said: “Well, either way, that makes the car even more fantastic. Rather than crash and hurt somebody, it brought it to a stop.”

While another tweeted, “Love that vehicle safely stopped. This is no edge case. Happens everyday across the world. One or more lives saved! Thank you Tesla! Thank you Elon! You Rock!”

Others, however, fired back as they believed that the advanced tech could encourage reckless behaviour.