Police authorities on Vancouver Island got a bit of a surprise when they pulled over a suspected drunk driver last week.
The incident occurred on April 9 when Campbell River RCMP noticed a car being driven along Willis Road in an erratic manner . When officers pulled over and approached the vehicle, they discovered both the driver and passenger were perfectly sober.
According to the driver of the vehicle, he wasn’t actually driving but rather testing out the car’s self-driving features. Const. Maury Tyre did not specifically mention the brand of vehicle in an interview with the Vancouver Island Free Daily, but did say drivers are still responsible for their vehicle even when it is driving by itself.
“Drivers need to understand that they are responsible for what their vehicle is doing. There simply are no exceptions to this rule. If you wish to try out the new bells and whistles in your vehicle, an empty parking lot is going to be a lot safer than a public roadway, but even still, you are responsible for your vehicle. Modern transport has definitely added a lot of safety and comfort features over the years, but they are just not a replacement for an attentive driver,” he said.
Given that police said it was driving like it was drunk, and the fact Willis Road is a quiet, straight, two lane road, the offending vehicle is unlikely a Tesla on Autopilot.
There are a number of other automaker with self-driving features, most recently Ford who announced their BlueCruise technology yesterday, which according to a map of compatible roads, does work on sections of Vancouver Island.
