Tesla Driver Put Car on Autopilot Before Falling Asleep in Germany

Laws that address this harm

Policy angle: Classified under Human-Computer Interaction (Overreliance and unsafe use) in the MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy; 5 recorded instruments address this use case.

• India DPDP Act India · Partially applicable · binding
• Law on Artificial Intelligence (2025) Kazakhstan · Adopted · binding
• Law No. 132/2025 on artificial intelligence Italy · In force · binding
• EU AI Act European Union · Partially applicable · binding
• Texas Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA) Texas (United States) · In force · binding

Matched from the record's risk domain and country to the instruments recorded here. A reviewer can correct the match in the repository (data/external/incident_overrides.yaml).

News reports (9)

Titles link to the original publisher; report text is not reproduced here.

1. 29 Dec 2022
   Tesla-Fahrer schläft im Autopilot-Modus

   polizei.bayern.de · Polizeipräsidium Oberfranken
2. 29 Dec 2022
   Fahrer schläft am Steuer: PKW im Autopilot auf der A70 unterwegs

   br.de · Simon Trapp, Lasse Berger
3. 30 Dec 2022
   Tesla-Fahrer fährt schlafend über die Autobahn

   bussgeldportal.de · Bussgeldportal.de
4. 31 Dec 2022
   Tesla on Autopilot stopped by police after driver falls asleep behind the wheel

   teslarati.com · Simon Alvarez
5. 1 Jan 2023
   Tesla auf Autopilot wird von der Polizei angehalten, nachdem der Fahrer hinter dem Lenkrad eingeschlafen ist

   teslapronews.ru · TeslaProNews
6. 2 Jan 2023
   Police in Germany chase Tesla for 15 minutes after driver turns on autopilot and 'goes to sleep'

   news.sky.com · James Robinson
7. 2 Jan 2023
   Tesla on autopilot leads police on chase before driver finally wakes up

   fox4news.com · Catherine Stoddard
8. 2 Jan 2023
   Tesla Autopilot flees police in Germany after driver fell asleep

   siliconangle.com · Duncan Riley
9. 3 Jan 2023
   Police Chase Tesla On Autobahn After Driver Turns On Autopilot And Falls Asleep

   carscoops.com · Stephen Rivers

Who was involved

Alleged deployer

Tesla

Alleged developer

Tesla

Alleged harmed party

Traffic Participants

Classification (MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy)

Risk domain

Human-Computer Interaction

Risk subdomain

5.1 Overreliance and unsafe use

Causal entity

Human

Intent

Intentional

Timing

Post-deployment

Harm level

—

Sectors

—

Countries

—

Risk entries describing this failure mode

Entries from the MIT AI Risk Repository coded to subdomain 5.1.

• Addiction

  "Addiction - Emotional or material dependence on technology or a technology system."

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Alienation/isolation

  "Alienation/isolation - An individual’s or group’s feeling of lack of connection with those around as a result of technology use or misuse."

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Overreliance

  "Over-reliance - Unfettered and/or obsessive belief in the accuracy or other quality of a technology system, resulting in addiction, anxiety, introversion, sentience, complacency, lack of critical thinking and other actu...

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Economic instability

  "Economic instability - Uncontrolled fluctuations impacting the financial system, or parts thereof, due to the use or misuse of a technology system, or set of systems."

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Social manipulation in elderly- and child-care

  " the use of advanced AI for elderly- and child-care are subject to risk of psychological manipulation and misjudgment "

  The Rise of Artificial Intelligence - Future Outlooks and Emerging Risks (Allianz2018)

• Healthcare

  "the use of advanced AI for elderly- and child-care are subject to risk of psychological manipulation and misjudgment (see page 17). In addition, concerns about patients’ privacy when AI uses medical records to research...

  The Rise of Artificial Intelligence - Future Outlooks and Emerging Risks (Allianz2018)

• Alteration of social relationships may induce psychological distress

  The Rise of Artificial Intelligence - Future Outlooks and Emerging Risks (Allianz2018)

• Inconsistent Performance across and within Domains

  "Estimating true capabilities of an LLM is a difficult task (c.f. Section 3.3), especially for naive users unfamiliar with the brittle nature of machine learning technologies. Exaggeration of model capabilities by the de...

  Foundational Challenges in Assuring Alignment and Safety of Large Language Models (Anwar2024)

Incidents in the same risk subdomain

• 2 Nov 2025Lawsuit Alleged ChatGPT (GPT-4o) Encouraged Colorado Man's Suicide After Prolonged 'AI Companion' Chats
• 27 Oct 2025Large-Scale Mental Health Crises Allegedly Associated with ChatGPT Interactions
• 29 Sep 2025Google Gemini Reportedly Reinforced Delusions, Allegedly Contributing to Florida User's Near-Harm Episode and Suicide
• 18 Aug 2025Family Reportedly Discovers ChatGPT Logs Detailing Suicidal Ideation Prior to Daughter's Death
• 14 Aug 2025Purported AI Monitoring Software Reportedly Flags Unsent Joke Threat, Leading to Arizona Student Suspension
• 5 Aug 2025ChatGPT Allegedly Reinforced Delusions Before Greenwich, Connecticut Murder-Suicide

Other incidents involving Tesla

• 17 Feb 2025Tesla Cybertruck Operating in Full Self-Driving Mode Reportedly Crashes into Pole in Nevada After Failing to Merge
• 7 Jan 2025Tesla's 'Actually Smart Summon' Feature Reportedly Linked to Multiple Parking Lot Collisions
• 23 Jun 2023Tesla on Autopilot Struck Parked Work Truck on Highway in Pennsylvania
• 15 May 2023Tesla Failed to Yield to Detected Pedestrian on Crosswalk, Reportedly Violated Traffic Law
• 17 Mar 2023Tesla Allegedly on Autopilot Struck High School Student Exiting School Bus
• 24 Nov 2022Sudden Braking by Tesla Allegedly on Self-Driving Mode Caused Multi-Car Pileup in Tunnel