Tesla driver caught asleep at 100 km/h — how monitoring failed
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- A Tesla driver was filmed apparently asleep at the wheel at ~100 km/h on BC's Trans-Canada Highway between Golden and Revelstoke on Sunday, with two sleeping children in the car; witness Carleigh called Revelstoke RCMP, who said they had the license plate
- Tesla's owner's manual states the vision-based monitoring "will not be activated" when the driver wears sunglasses or a hat that covers the eyes, in poor lighting, or when the camera is covered — the driver in the video was wearing large sunglasses
- With the camera blinded, the system falls back to steering-wheel torque detection, which only confirms force is being applied to the wheel, not that the driver is awake or looking forward — and a resting arm or slumped body can satisfy it
- BC's Motor Vehicle Act prohibits Level 3–5 automated vehicles on public roads; since FSD is classified Level 2, the driver remains legally responsible at all times, making napping behind it illegal in the province regardless of the technology
- Chinese Tesla drivers have reportedly defeated the cabin camera with $30 plastic doll heads mounted near the rearview mirror, illustrating that the same monitoring can be fooled accidentally by sunglasses or deliberately by a cheap prop
- Tesla's 2025.32.3 update responds to detected drowsiness by suggesting the driver turn on FSD — pushing more automation at the exact moment a driver is least able to supervise it
Why it matters: Tesla markets the cabin camera as its primary safeguard against hands-off, eyes-off driving, yet its own manual admits sunglasses defeat it — leaving only the torque-based steering nag, which a resting arm can also beat. Tesla classifies FSD as Level 2 and has spent the past year in court fighting findings that it misled customers, so the legal responsibility stays with the driver while the marketed monitoring falls short by design.
