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'Driver' of An AP Equipped MS Making a Hand-Held Mobile Call - Breaking the Law?

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Playing Devil's advocate for a moment...

I had this discussion at work today. The letter of the law states "No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a road if s/he is using a hand-held mobile telephone...". Just wondering if you could prove you were not actually 'driving' then you couldn't be found guilty of the offence. 'Driving' has, by dint of case law, come to mean 'having control of brakes and steering'. If you could prove AP was on at the relevant time then there is a fair chance a sympathetic (Tesla-owning?) magistrate might agree that you were not technically driving. Of course you still have ultimate responsibility for the safety of your car but that is a separate matter and I wouldn't mind betting a canny lawyer might get away with it.

If so, it opens a potentially huge can of worms. One thing's for sure, the real winners will be the lawyers! MW
 
Not buying it. Autopilot is a "driver assist" function, meaning it assists the driver; it does not take over. Attempting to muddy the water only hurts us in the long run. If I were Tesla, I would refund the person the price of Autopilot and remove it from their vehicle. Everyone on the road has to follow the laws that apply, regardless of the technology available to them.
 
To be found guilty of an offence of 'not being in proper control' or 'driving without due care and attention' or 'driving without reasonable consideration for other road users' etc etc, contrary to the popular myth perpetuated by the media, there must be evidence given of something 'bad' happening to secure a conviction. For example, crashing is always good evidence, but unnecessary swerving or braking, poor lane discipline, failing to use the indicators, failing to give way etc etc will work, too. The offence of using a mobile phone is different because it is a specific offence ('absolute') and no other, usually subjective to a greater or lesser degree, poor driving evidence is required. Thus, it is purely the question of whether, as the wording of the offence puts it, you are 'driving' whilst using your mobile that is at the crux of the issue. Anyway, I can imagine it won't be long before we find out. MW