Tesla Owner Allegedly Circumvents Driver Monitoring System on U.S. Highway

An owner of a Tesla vehicle in the United States stands accused of obscuring the car’s windscreen to evade its driver monitoring systems while operating on a public highway. The incident has caught the attention of authorities after footage emerged showing the vehicle, reportedly using Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode, with a deliberately obstructed front window.

According to the U.S. website Electrek, videos sourced from the social media platform Reddit illustrate the Tesla navigating traffic autonomously. The driver allegedly employed a sun shield to fully cover their view out of the front windscreen as the car negotiated lane changes and accelerated amid heavy highway traffic.

The video evidence suggests the driver managed to override, or evade, the driver monitoring system, which typically necessitates constant visual attention to the road. Tesla has implemented interior cameras designed to track the eye movements of drivers, ensuring attentiveness at all times while using their autonomous systems.

In 2024, subsequent to an inquiry by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla instituted measures requiring driver interaction with the steering wheel at specified intervals when FSD is engaged. This is to verify that the driver remains maneuverable. How the involved driver managed to bypass these protocols remains unclear.

The incident underscores varied global perceptions of automated driving technologies. In Australia, surveys indicate substantial skepticism, with over half of drivers expressing distrust in autonomous vehicles. Contrastingly, Tesla has recently revealed the Tesla Robotaxi, a fully autonomous electric vehicle expected to debut in the U.S. by 2026, with potential Australian availability not before 2028.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system is currently not legal in Australia. Within the United States, Elon Musk‘s company continues to proactively navigate the complexities surrounding its ambitious self-driving agenda. A subscription-based FSD program for compatible Tesla models was introduced in March 2024 amid ongoing debate and criticism over the safety and reliability of earlier autonomous technology iterations.

In a notable development, ‘The Dawn Project,’ a safety advocacy group, launched a campaign during the 2024 Super Bowl challenging what it labeled as “unsafe software.” The campaign’s advertisements aimed to generate public discourse around Tesla’s advanced driving features and their risk management.