Monday 30 April 2018

Tesla driver banned for M1 autopilot seat-switch

Photo: Herts Police
A driver who moved into the passenger seat after putting his electric car into autopilot while at 40mph on a motorway has been banned from driving. 

Bhavesh Patel was filmed by a witness in another car sitting in the passenger seat of his Tesla S 60 on the M1 between junctions 8 and 9 near Hemel Hempstead.

The footage was posted on social media before it was reported to the police.

The court heard Patel told officers what he had done was "silly" but his car was capable of something "amazing" when he was interviewed at Stevenage Police Station.

He added he was the "unlucky one who got caught".

A statement provided by a Tesla engineer said the autopilot was intended to provide assistance to a "fully-attentive driver", the court heard.

Mr Patel pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at St Albans Crown Court, he was disqualified for 18 months and must do 100 hours of unpaid work. He also had to pay the Crown Prosecution Service costs of £1,800.


www.radar-detectors.co.uk

Tuesday 24 April 2018

Man jailed after giving speed cameras the finger



North Yorkshire Police have today been promoting their recent conviction of Timothy Hill with a laser jammer to all the major news outlets. Reading between the lines we wonder if he was prosecuted for hiding his Range Rover and denying he was the driver as much as he was for having the jammer. The news story confirms the jammer ‘did its job’ and they could not get a speed reading on which to prosecute. It would also seem from this news story that the jammer unit was in some sort of continuous jamming mode.

However this guy was clearly an idiot for attracting attention to himself and having no regard to law or the police and we do not condone his actions. Jammers should be used to alert you to speed traps and give you a chance to check and adjust your speed if necessary, not to carry on driving with impunity with no regard to the laws of the road.

You can read the North Yorkshire Police statement here.

https://northyorkshire.police.uk/news/laser-jammer-prison/