Year in Review – November:
Richmond drivers are often the butt of jokes across the Lower Mainland, but it plummeted to a whole new depth in early November.
Video captured by a shopper at Richmond Centre showed a luxury electric Tesla vehicle “driving” on the wrong side of a parking lot intersection — with no one behind the wheel.
The story went viral online after the Richmond News published the video on its website, with thousands of readers flabbergasted at what they were watching.
However, early reports that the Tesla was being “controlled remotely” from offsite were later found to be a little wide of the mark.
What was understood to actually be happening was a Tesla owner testing out his new “Smart Summon” app, which allows you, at the press of a button on your phone, to summon the car to your location (to a distance of 200 feet).
The problem was the car didn’t appear to recognize the lines on the parking lot road and other cars with actual human beings behind the wheel were having to gingerly negotiate around the errant Tesla.
And an even bigger issue was the fact that autonomous operation of vehicles is not legal in B.C., according to ICBC.
Had the Tesla crashed, ICBC said the vehicle owner’s insurance “may not have provided coverage.”
