Gary Zhou 
Many drivers will make it a point to drive carefully and within the laws of the road after spending the night in jail for reckless driving. Not so for Param Sharma, 25, who was recently arrested and released by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) for reckless driving after grossly misusing the Autopilot features on his Model 3.
Sharma drew the attention of the CHP over the weekend after photos of his Autopilot misadventures went viral on social media. The 25-year-old was photographed sitting in the backseat of his Model 3 as the car drove without a driver. The stunt was not only incredibly risky, but also a blatant breach of how Autopilot is supposed to be used, which infuriated netizens, many of whom were Tesla owners themselves.
On Monday evening, the CHP arrested the Model 3 owner and booked him into the Santa Rita Jail on two counts of reckless driving and disobeying a police officer. Interestingly enough, authorities noted that Sharma had already been cited for a similar incident in the past, with the 25-year old being reported for similar antics in late April. Despite spending a night in prison, the obstinate Tesla owner seems to have remained unfazed.
Sharma clarified to KTVU on Tuesday evening after his release that he has no plans to give up his Autopilot backseat driving habits. He said that his driving was not reckless, and that he actually did what he is now remembered for when he was released from jail. The 25-year-old said that on his way home from jail, Autopilot drove the Tesla while he and a friend sat in the backseat.
“I’m gonna go in the back seat right now. You feel me? I’m waiting for my car to charge,” Sharma said, claiming that was he was doing is not dangerous. “I’ve been brake-checked before really hard, and the car stopped. The car came to a complete stop… I think people are tripping and they’re scared,” he added.
Tesla owners, on the other hand, disagree. According to David McPherson, a South Bay resident who has owned a Tesla for five years, true self-driving technology is still a ways off. McPherson stated that the risks are still far too high, echoing Tesla’s own terms for Autopilot, which explicitly state that drivers must remain alert and ready to intervene at any moment.
“Technology is not there yet. And being a Tesla owner, there’s still a lot of unknowns to take that risk or even consider it at this time,” the longtime Tesla owner said.
Misuse of Autopilot is a serious issue, and one can only hope that owners like Sharma learn that using the driver-assist system in such a dangerous way is not only incorrect, but also reckless. After all, Tesla stresses caution when it comes to its driver-assist systems, with even members of the FSD Beta–which have access to features that are yet to see a wide release–still being required to pay attention to the road while operating their vehicles. Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, has also stated on Twitter that some members of the FSD Beta community have been kicked out of the program for failing to pay attention to the road.
Sharma’s interview with KTVU could be viewed below.
