Tesla driver asleep on Ottawa's Highway 417 charged by OPP

How much is the careless driving charge in Ontario?

The set fine is $490 and six demerit points on conviction. If the case goes to court, the Highway Traffic Act allows fines up to $2,000, up to six months in jail and a licence suspension of up to two years.

Not the first sleeping Tesla driver in Canada

This is at least the fifth time this year Canadian police have gone public with one. In March, B.C. Highway Patrol ticketed a 37-year-old woman on the Trans-Canada Highway ($368 for driving without due care, plus $138 for speeding). She said she had "zoned out"; police said in-car video showed she was "literally asleep at the wheel." In July, a witness filmed a driver asleep with two kids in the back near Revelstoke. In August, two more drivers were ticketed $368 each on Highway 1, in North Vancouver and Langley.

The problem isn't only Canadian. In October, a driver told California Highway Patrol he was asleep on FSD when his Tesla hit a patrol car at a closed crash scene in Fairfield, and two officers were seriously injured.

Why it keeps happening

Years ago, "Full Self-Driving" needed a takeover every few miles, so nobody could nap. Now it can handle long highway stretches, and a person asked to supervise a system that's usually right tends to stop watching. Researchers call it automation complacency.

Tesla's owner's manual says its cabin camera doesn't need to see the driver's eyes fully and stays active with sunglasses on. If it can't see hands, it asks for a bit of torque on the wheel, which a sleeping hand on the rim can supply. Five strikeouts suspend FSD for a week, and each strike is forgiven after three and a half days. GM's Super Cruise, by comparison, uses infrared LEDs to track head and eye position.