Tesla Driver Asleep at 100 km/h, Sunglasses Bypass Monitor
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- Tesla driver was filmed apparently 'fast asleep' at roughly 100 km/h on B.C.'s Trans-Canada Highway between Golden and Revelstoke with two sleeping children in the car, according to witness Carleigh, who called Revelstoke RCMP and was later told they had the plate.
- Tesla's cabin camera — the primary driver monitor since FSD v12.4 — 'will not be activated' when the driver wears sunglasses, per Tesla's own owner's manual, so the system fell back to steering-wheel torque checks instead.
- Torque detection only confirms 'some force' is being applied to the wheel — a slumped body, resting arm, or nag-defeating accessory can satisfy it, so it cannot confirm the driver is actually awake or looking at the road.
- Tesla's separate Driver Drowsiness Warning shares the same eye-sight dependency, and a recent 2025.32.3 update responds to detected drowsiness by suggesting the driver turn on FSD — pushing more automation at the moment of greatest impairment.
- Chinese Tesla drivers have reportedly been defeating the cabin camera with ~$30 plastic doll heads mounted near the mirror, and a $2 pair of sunglasses defeating it by accident is 'entirely consistent' with a system 'designed to keep honest drivers honest.'
- Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is classified as Level 2 in Canada, keeping the driver legally responsible at all times — though B.C.'s Motor Vehicle Act separately prohibits operating Level 3-5 automated vehicles on public roads.
Why it matters: Tesla markets its monitoring as the safeguard that keeps hands-off, eyes-off driving from happening — but sunglasses defeat the cabin camera by accident and $30 doll heads defeat it on purpose. As FSD gets more capable and lulls drivers into over-trust, the gap between Level 2 marketing language and a system that can't see through gas-station sunglasses is precisely where incidents and legal liability live.
