Police stopped a Tesla operating on Autopilot with full taxi

• Police in northern California City Redwood City arrested a man as they found sleeping behind the wheel of the Tesla Model S as it drove down a freeway early Friday morning.
• The electric luxury sedan had traveled south on Highway 101 Montiel said that officers believed that Tesla operated on Autopilot because the driver, Alexander Samek, did not respond to the lights and sirens when they tried to pull the police stopped.
• Police stopped traffic behind Tesla while another officer who traveled in front of the car gradually stepped down, forced the semi-autonomous sedan, responding to varying traffic speeds and accelerate or lower accordingly, to a complete stop

Police in northern California- The city of Redwood City arrested a man who traveled on the highway 1[ads1]01 early Friday morning while sleeping behind the wheel of the Tesla Model S.

Officers first discovered the electric luxury silk that drove south at about 70km / h around 3:40, California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel told Business Insider Friday night.

Montiel said the officers took action when it became apparent that the driver, the 45-year-old Alexander Samek, slept.

"The driver did not respond to lights and sirens," said Montiel.

The officers believed that Tesla could have operated on Autopilot, a semi-autonomous driving feature that allows Teslas to run and switch lanes in traffic with minimal human input.

To get sleeper driver Tesla to stop, said Montiel said officers drive the car behind the car while another officer who traveled in front of the car gradually slowed down, forced Tesla, who can respond to varying traffic speeds and accelerate or slow down accordingly to a complete stop.

"When the vehicle was stopped, the officers came out of their patrol cars, approached Tesla, and knocked on the windows to wake the driver," Montiel said.

Officers placed Samek in a patrol car while another drove the drunk man's Tesla off the highway and parked it at a nearby gas station.

Samek was arrested with suspicion of driving under the influence. Montiel applauded the "rapid thinking" of the power plant to get Tesla and the driver out of harm.

Several Teslas have crashed while operating on Autopilot in recent months. A man was killed when his model X SUV broke into a highway barrier in Mountain View, California, in March.

Teslas equipped with Autopilot can not drive itself. The system utilizes an increasing series of warnings if it detects that the driver does not have the hands on the steering wheel. If the driver does not respond, the system deactivates itself.

Tesla refused to comment on the incident.