M’sia police bans autopilot driving, takes action on SG couple who drove Tesla to Penang

A series of TikToks showing how a couple drove from Singapore to Penang using the autopilot mode on their Tesla Model 3 went viral, causing the police in Malaysia to sit up and take notice. 

The police have announced it has banned motorists from using Tesla’s autopilot function, reported Malaysia’s Guang Ming Daily on Wednesday (April 6).

The report said that action will be taken against the Singaporean couple who used the function hands-free when they drove 700 kilometres to Penang. 

Superintendent Dr Bakri Zainal Abidin, Bukit Aman Traffic Investigations and Enforcement chief assistant director, said that using Tesla’s autopilot function may lead to motorists becoming inattentive and insensitive to road conditions, based on research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“Malaysia currently has no rules or laws against automated driving systems, but these systems do not help drivers keep their full attention on driving – the system can’t even be sure if there is a driver sitting in the vehicle.”

Mr Bakri added that this would “probably cause the driver to pay less attention to the traffic around them, instead spending their time on other distracting things, such as using a mobile phone while driving.”

He added that regarding the couple from Singapore, Malaysian police will be invoking the Land Transport Act 1987 to launch an investigation.

In their videos, the couple said that they had kept their hands on the steering wheel for the majority of the trip, and only removed them to demonstrate how the system functions. But Tesla’s manual says that drivers should have their hands on the wheel all the time.

“Tesla SR+ can go to Malaysia!” wrote TikTok user @sgpikarchu, in the videos they posted of their recent travels. They cruised through the Causeway on autopilot mode and even exceeded the maximum range of a single charge.

@sgpikarchu

Crossed the custom within 45 minutes at midnight. Drove past KL, continuing up north! Go Tesla 🤓 #SgTeslaGoesMsia #EVboleh

♬ Vacation – Dirty Heads

The TikTok user said they managed to drive about 700km and reached Penang, Malaysia, despite the marketed maximum range of the vehicle being around 380km only. /TISG

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