{"id":64944,"date":"2021-05-12T14:40:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T18:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=64944"},"modified":"2021-05-12T14:41:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T18:41:02","slug":"these-self-driving-vehicles-are-so-dangerous-how-are-they-even-legal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=64944","title":{"rendered":"These self-driving vehicles are so dangerous how are they even legal?!?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tesla driver arrested after being seen riding in backseat on Bay Area freeway: CHP<\/strong><\/h1>\n

KTLA5<\/p>\n

A motorist was arrested after an officer observed him in the backseat of a Tesla traveling on a San Francisco Bay Area freeway, the California Highway Patrol said.<\/p>\n

Param Sharma, 25, was arrested for alleged reckless driving and disobeying a peace officer, the highway patrol said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Multiple 911 calls Monday evening reported a person seated in the backseat of a Tesla Model 3 without anyone in the driver\u2019s seat while the vehicle traveled on Interstate 80 across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.<\/p>\n

A highway patrol motorcycle officer spotted the Tesla, confirmed the solo occupant was in the backseat, took action to stop the car and saw the occupant move to the driver\u2019s seat before the car stopped, said the statement from the highway patrol, known as CHP.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to this arrest, members of the public had captured video of someone resembling Sharma operating his vehicle in the same reckless manner, and the CHP\u2019s Oakland Area had cited Sharma on April 27 for similar behavior,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

The CHP said the incident remains under investigation. The statement did not say whether officials determined whether the Tesla was operating on the company\u2019s \u201cAutopilot\u201d system, which can keep a car centered in its lane and a safe distance behind vehicles in front of it.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s likely that either Autopilot or Tesla\u2019s \u201cFull Self-Driving\u201d systems were operating for the driver to be in the back seat. Tesla is allowing a limited number of owners to test its self-driving system, but it\u2019s not clear if Sharma was one of them. A message was left Wednesday seeking comment from Tesla.<\/p>\n

Tesla says on its website and in owners manuals that both systems are not fully autonomous, and that drivers must be ready to intervene at any time.<\/p>\n

But drivers have repeatedly zoned out with Autopilot in use, resulting in at least three U.S. deaths when neither the system nor the driver stopped for obstacles in the road.<\/p>\n

Tesla has a system to monitor drivers to make sure they\u2019re paying attention by detecting force from hands on the steering wheel.<\/p>\n

The system will issue warnings and eventually shut the car down if it doesn\u2019t detect hands. But critics have said Tesla\u2019s system is easy to fool and can take as long as a minute to shut down. Consumer Reports said in April that it was able to easily trick a Tesla into driving in Autopilot mode with no one at the wheel.<\/p>\n

Sharma was released from Alameda County\u2019s Santa Rita Jail on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The KTVU television station<\/a>\u00a0reported that Sharma said in an interview that riding in the backseat isn\u2019t dangerous and he will continue it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna go in the back seat right now. You feel me? I\u2019m waiting for my car to charge,\u201d Sharma told the station.<\/p>\n

\u201cElon Musk really knows what he\u2019s doing and I think people are tripping and they\u2019re scared,\u201d he said, referring to the Tesla founder.<\/p>\n

KTVU reported that Sharma characterized himself as being above the blue-collar world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t drive and I don\u2019t fill up gas. I am a gold collar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

___
\nhttps:\/\/ktla.com\/news\/california\/tesla-driver-arrested-after-being-seen-riding-in-backseat-on-bay-area-freeway-chp\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tesla driver arrested after being seen riding in backseat on Bay Area freeway: CHP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64944\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}