In Tesla cars, the obligation to hold the steering wheel while autopilot was active could be overcome with some tricks. However, placing an orange or water bottle between the steering wheel will no longer work.
The Teslascope team noticed an interesting feature in the latest FSD beta update, V10.69.3.1. Tesla cars will now be able to detect whether drivers “really” keep their hands on the steering wheel while the autopilot function is active. Because drivers had found ways to overcome this requirement.
As you know, Teslas require the driver to keep their hands on the steering wheel while autopilot is active. In other words, when the car is in fully autonomous driving mode, the driver must be ready to take over control at any time. This was controlled using sensors that monitored the applied force.
Autopilot will be Shut Down if Cheating is Detected
Some Tesla owners have managed to circumvent this requirement in various ways. Clever solutions were created, such as squeezing an orange or a water bottle between the steering wheel. The company, which is aware of the cheating, seems to have felt the need to take precautions.
Now the autopilot will be turned off if the system detects that the driver is not keeping their hands on the wheel and is doing some kind of cheating. Exactly how this feature works is not yet clear. It will probably take into account the footage from the dash cam.
