Second B.C. Tesla Driver Fined $368 for Sleeping at the Wheel on Highway 1

A 33-year-old Langley man has become the second Tesla driver in British Columbia ticketed for sleeping behind the wheel in under three weeks. The B.C. Highway Patrol says an officer travelling to a priority call on August 27 passed a Tesla on the Trans-Canada Highway near 248 Street in Langley and noticed the driver with his eyes closed and both hands off the steering wheel. The officer diverted from the original call to pull the vehicle over.

The driver received a $368 fine for driving without due care and attention, plus an $81 fine for failing to produce a driver's licence. Body-worn camera footage from the stop appeared to confirm the officer's observation that the driver was asleep, although the driver claimed otherwise at the scene.

"The police officer's observations and his Body Worn Camera appeared to show the Tesla driver was asleep, though the driver claimed otherwise," said B.C. Highway Patrol Sergeant Michael McLaughlin. "This traffic stop took a valuable resource away from another police call. If drivers would stop sleeping behind the wheel, we could go help people who need us more."

A pattern in B.C. this summer

The Langley incident follows a nearly identical event on August 11 in North Vancouver, where a 45-year-old Maple Ridge woman was also fined $368 after witnesses filmed her Tesla Model Y travelling on Highway 1 with the driver apparently asleep. BCHP identified that driver using witness video and traced her to her home address.

Earlier in July, video surfaced of a Tesla driver apparently asleep near Golden on Highway 1, prompting an RCMP investigation with no public update since. A separate July incident in West Kelowna produced two tickets for a driver who was allegedly reading documents while operating a Model Y with Full Self-Driving engaged.

What B.C. law actually says

B.C.'s Motor Vehicle Act prohibits the use of highly automated self-driving vehicles on public roads. Lesser features such as lane-change assist and automatic emergency braking are permitted, but no system sold in Canada today makes sleeping behind the wheel legal — and police are treating sleeping-Tesla incidents as ordinary impaired-attention driving offences, full stop.

"Police will not debate the merits of self-driving technology with sleeping drivers," McLaughlin said. "It's illegal in B.C., and we're here to enforce the law and keep roads safe."

For Canadian Tesla owners, the message from B.C.'s 2026 caseload is consistent: the cabin camera and driver-monitoring warnings are not what police rely on. Other motorists are filming, and BCHP is using that footage to identify and fine drivers after the fact. The August 27 stop underlines the additional cost — not just the ticket, but a real emergency response that was delayed while the officer handled a preventable offence.

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