A Tesla owner who posts images of himself riding driverless in the back seat of his Tesla was arrested for the offense two days ago. His Tesla has been impounded by the police as evidence. Today he is riding in the back seat of a new Tesla Model 3 he just bought and is posting images of himself once again. With Autopilot. No, we are not making this up. 

The back seat rider is Param Sharma. He was arrested for two counts of reckless driving and disobeying a California Peace Officer. Once he got out he bought another Tesla. 

“I’m very rich. I mean, I’ll just get another Tesla every time”

He told Bay Area TV station KTVU, “I’m rich as f***-I’m very rich. I mean, I’ll just get another Tesla every time. I have unlimited money to blow on Teslas. Like, if you take my Tesla away I will get another Tesla.” 

He’s obviously setting himself up again to be arrested. Then, if he’s true to his word he’ll do it all over again and the cycle will continue. That is until he goes before a judge. 

A judge will probably say if he does it again he goes back to jail

A legal analyst told KTVU, “What I think you’ll see is his first court date is the judge will give him a very stern warning and say, ‘You are not to drive unless you’re in the driver’s seat of your vehicle. And if you do we’re gonna put you back in jail.’”

Sharma told KTVU he doesn’t think he poses a safety risk. Unfortunately, he is wrong. In California, autonomous vehicles must get permission from the DMV before they are approved to drive on public roads. Tesla has not done this yet. 

Sharma breaks the law every time he pulls his Tesla back seat stunt

Tesla says the beta system it is testing is a Level 2 driver assistance program. So whether he knows or even cares Sharma is breaking the law every time he pulls his back seat stunt. We suspect he’ll be picked up again, and brought before a judge to be handed his ultimatum. 

Sharma pleaded not guilty at his first hearing and plans on contesting his actions in court. But it is such a cut-and-dry case that it is highly unlikely he will get off. Now that he’s taunting the law it is assured. 

He has said on Instagram that, “the backseat thing will be normal” by mid-2022. We don’t know where he is getting his information but he is also wrong about this. Being a Level 2 system it has far to go to meet the requirements for completely autonomous driving capability. And then it will have to be approved by the state. 

“Teslas don’t crash”

Sharma says his Tesla stops for pedestrians and that Teslas don’t crash. He also says that if he has his license taken away he’ll just call Elon Musk to have him do away with licenses. Whatever that means?

Expect Sharma to be arrested once again today. His first trial is scheduled for July so it is still a bit off into the future. But this will probably be the last we hear of him until then. The police won’t be so lenient this time.