A Northern California man is facing a DUI charge after Vacaville police found him completely unconscious behind the wheel of what appears to be a Tesla, rolling through busy city streets on autopilot while he slept off what police described as a combination of alcohol and marijuana.
Yes, really.
The incident unfolded around 11 a.m. on a Wednesday, which is already doing a lot of heavy lifting in this story. A concerned community member spotted the unmistakable sight of a driverless-looking car cruising through traffic with a very limp human being in the front seat and called 911. That Good Samaritan then stayed on the line and gave officers real-time directions to track the vehicle down, guiding police to the intersection of Elmira Road and Shasta Drive, where officers were able to stop the car and check on the driver.
When they did, they found no medical emergency. What they found instead was a man allegedly floating somewhere between a Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon buzz and a marijuana cloud, sleeping with his head tilted back and drifting to one side, looking for all the world like a man who had zero concerns about the Tuesday traffic situation.
Is “California Man” the new “Florida Man”?
Image Credit: Fox KTVU 2
Vacaville police shared photos of the scene, and the interior of that Tesla was, frankly, a snapshot of a man who had a plan and fully committed to it. A four-pack of Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon and a box of Round Table pizza were visible in the vehicle. This is either the saddest Wednesday lunch in California history or the most optimistic one, depending on your perspective.
While the city of Vacaville did not officially name the driver or the vehicle, the car’s ability to navigate traffic on its own, combined with its distinctive door handles, made the Tesla identification about as difficult as spotting a Prius in a Trader Joe’s parking lot.
Vacaville police used the moment as a public reminder that California does allow drivers to use newer assistive driving technologies, but that the law still requires them to be conscious, alert, and sober while doing so. In other words, “self-driving” is a feature, not a hall pass.
No injuries were reported, which is genuinely the best possible outcome for everyone involved, including the pizza.
If there is a takeaway here beyond the obvious legal and safety lessons, it might be this: the Tesla did its job. The human did not. Is this a marketing strategy for Tesla’s controversial Full Self-Driving mode?
