Teen Gets DUI for Sleeping in His Car Driving on Autopilot in New England

It prompted loads of 9-1-1 calls early Friday morning on April 18 in the midnight hour.

A Tesla was driving slowly down I-91 just south of Hartford with a guy sleeping in the driver's seat.

According to the Connecticut Insider website, police arrested the teen who was sleeping in his car, which was on autopilot.

A 19-year-old slumped over behind the wheel of a Tesla that made its way down the highway on autopilot is believed to be the first of its kind in Connecticut. The New York resident is charged with driving offenses even though he wasn’t touching the steering wheel. That’s because the person in the driver’s seat is in control of the car — or at least is supposed to be.

According to the Connecticut Insider, if you have a self-driving car and it's in the self-driving mode, you must be awake and alert in case you have to hit the gas or brake. In other words, you're still responsible for driving your car even when you're not physically driving it.

The arrest happened early Friday [April 18] shortly before 12:30 AM. 911 calls started coming in to the Troop H barracks in Hartford about a Tesla traveling far below highway speeds. More callers reported that the driver was slumped over.

The Tesla was in the center lane of 91 in the town of Wethersfield, just south of downtown Hartford, with its hazard lights blinking.

According to the Connecticut Insider, it was traveling around 25 mph. Police had to pull in front of it and force it to stop because they couldn't get the teen's attention.

The 19-year-old did not perform well on field sobriety tests and was charged with operating a motor vehicle at too slow a speed, reckless driving, second-degree reckless endangerment and illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

Active driver supervision is the law in every state, even when the vehicle is in autopilot mode.