This Californian driver took advantage of his car’s driving assist features to illegally use his phone in the worst way possible.
Californian and Redditor /u/SpookiBooogi shared concerning smartphone footage from a California Highway from two weeks ago showing the head-shaking moment a driver in a 2016-2017 Lexus ES (License Plate: 7NSCO67) was navigating heavy stop-and-go traffic while he was simultaneously focused on watching the popular anime ‘One Piece’ on his smartphone.
/u/SpookiBooogi replied to concerned commenters that he, himself, was not driving while recording, but was in the passenger seat, so put your pitchforks away.
Check out his dashcam footage below.
Watching Anime while driving [OC]
byu/SpookiBooogi inIdiotsInCars
“(This) happened in California,” /u/SpookiBooohi explains in a caption.
“We observed a driver who was passing other cars and driving faster than everyone else. When we caught up to him later, he was still driving the same way. The car did not appear to be self-driving as far as I could tell.”
While this car, a 2015-2018 Lexus ES, is not as advanced as a Tesla when it comes to self-driving capabilities, it does have driver-assist features that, to an extent, enable it to “drive itself.”
According to the Lexus press release on the launch of this generation ES, this Lexus has a Pre-Collision system, lane departure alert with steering assist, and automatic braking which, when combined, enables a car to monitor how close they are to the car in front of them, keeps them in the center of a lane, and, if needed, can brake for a user, effectively allowing a driver to not pay attention, or, in this case, watch something on their smartphone.
These early systems of driver assist require the driver to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times, which, this driver is exploiting by holding both the steering wheel and his phone.
Other assist systems, like Subaru’s Eyesight system, monitor your eyes, too, so this kind of loophole is not exploited (although you can technically wear shades to get around this.)
He was laser-focused, and I was genuinely scared, so I called the California Highway Patrol after this.”
“If he keeps up this dangerous behavior, he ain’t getting home in One Piece someday,” /u/UnderRangeofHeart humorously commented.”
“Only way you’ll ever get caught up on One Piece honestly. (This is a joke, pay attention to the road),” /u/KaminariMaho added.
In California, like most other US states, it’s illegal to watch a video while driving. The violation is tantamount to texting or using your phone while driving, subject to a base fine of up to $50 which, after all the fees, balloons to well over $150 (closer to $162, ask me how I know.)
Driving requires all your attention, whether driver assist is used or not.
It’s in the name, assist, it’s not supposed to replace you.