Chinese Drivers Are Using Tiny Plastic Heads to Fool Tesla’s Autopilot Safeguards
Tesla owners in China are using inexpensive plastic figurines of celebrities to bypass the vehicle's driver-monitoring safety systems. These replicas trick the Autopilot sensors into detecting an attentive driver, allowing users to engage in distracted driving behaviors.
Why it matters
This practice poses a significant safety risk and highlights the limitations of current driver-monitoring technology in autonomous vehicle systems.
Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story In China, for just $30, you can have Dwayne Johnson drive your Tesla for you. Sounds too cheap to be true? Well, it is. What you’re actually buying is a tiny replica of The Rock s head, designed to sit above the rearview mirror and trick Tesla into thinking an attentive driver is behind the wheel. Tesla’s self-driving system appears unable to tell the difference between the figurines and a real person, allowing the actual driver to look away from the road, scroll through their phone, or even doze off—activities that are supposed to be prohibited while assisted-driving features are engaged.
The article objectively reports on a consumer trend and its associated safety implications without editorializing.
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