“... kind of feel like he just accidentally fell asleep on a long, boring drive”

How would you feel about being in a wheelchair or losing a limb because some dipshit allowed themselves to fall asleep at the wheel? I feel that in a non-autonomous car, he may well not have dozed off.

If he was that tired, he shouldn’t be behind the wheel. Even if it weren’t apparent that he did something to disable the safety features, he has no excuse for being behind the wheel.

Indeed. As anyone who’s ever driven to Las Vegas can attest, the drive on any of the roads leading into (and out of) the sin city is about as exciting as watching a tree grow.

If he were in a low-tech car he would be actively driving not falling asleep while the car drove.

Does anyone take responsibility for anything anymore in America? Jesus Christ. To all the folks brushing it off saying “maybe he fell asleep...”

<There isn’t enough information presented in this article to come to the conclusion that he did it on purpose.>

These comments are beyond stupid. There is never an excuse to let yourself get to a state of falling asleep behind the wheel. IT’s dumb no matter what happens as a result.

That’s funny, but when I’m tired I pull off the road to rest, get some coffee, stretch  ... something ... but then again, I foolishly still believe I’m responsible for my own actions

I kind of feel like he just accidentally fell asleep on a long, boring drive and didn’t die because the car was driving itself

That he bought a car that can handle his exhaustion doesn’t excuse him from driving in such a state. Makes the impact slightly less, doesn’t reduce the wrongdoing.

Or he fell asleep because he was not much involved in the operation of the vehicle and didn’t crash because the car didn’t come across one of the various situations where the car’s system fails.

Except his position is clearly indicative that he consciously decided to take a nap. How many people do you know that recline that far to drive?

I dunno; that seat looks like it has been reclined to a nap-worthy angle.

there is absolutely ZERO excuses for falling asleep behind the wheel of any vehicle, are you people really defending that?!? yes the car can self drive on the highway, but what happens when some douche in a BMW aggressively cuts off the Tesla because it was going to slow? i highly doubt that the Tesla would know what…

He would have had to have done something to the car to defeat the steering-wheel torque sensors. This doesn’t happen by accident, by design.

Sure there is.  If he hadn’t defeated the safety features the car is supposed to fucking stop.

If he’s prone to falling asleep at the wheel, maybe he shouldn’t be driving a car anymore. I don’t care how old he is and/or how much “respect” anyone feels he’s entitled to by benefiting from modern medicine, but he’s a danger to the rest of the road users around him, and should probably have his license removed.

Still his fault. If this is the case, he knows he falls asleep when he sits for too long. He should be taking measures to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep. He failed and it’s ultimately his responsibility to make sure his car doesn’t kill anyone.

I guess I’d have to weigh the risks in that particular situation. If there isn’t anyone following the Tesla too close I’d consider doing it. I think you could also mitigate some risk by doing it gradually. I’m not saying someone should brake check a car with a sleeping driver.