A man from British Columbia is facing charges after a bizarre set of circumstances earlier this summer on a central Alberta highway.
RCMP say back in early July, police received a complaint of a car speeding south on Highway 2 near Ponoka.
The vehicle appeared to be self-driving, travelling over 140 km/h, with both front seats completely reclined and both occupants appearing to be asleep.
An officer located the vehicle, a 2019 Tesla Model S. and after the responding officer flipped on his emergency lights, the Tesla automatically began to speed up.
After finally stopping the vehicle, RCMP charged the driver, a 20 year old BC man, with speeding and a 24 hour licence suspension for fatigue.
The driver has also been now charged with Dangerous Driving and was served with a summons to appear in court in December.
“Although manufacturers of new vehicles have built in safeguards to prevent drivers from taking advantage of the new safety systems in vehicles, those systems are just that — supplemental safety systems,” says Superintendent Gary Graham of Alberta RCMP Traffic Services. “They are not self-driving systems, they still come with the responsibility of driving.”