A tourist from Canada, visiting Auckland, was taken aback when he saw local police towing his Tesla from the hotel parking lot — however, it turns out this practice is common in the USA.
The reason is that footage captured by Tesla vehicles can provide crucial evidence in solving crimes. In this case, the Canadian's car likely witnessed the murder of a van driver who was parked nearby — the man suffered gunshot and stab wounds and ultimately died in the hospital. The Canadian promptly supplied the police with all necessary data from Tesla, and his vehicle was left undisturbed.
Modern cars are equipped with various sensors and cameras used for driver assistance systems. Incidents where police take vehicles to search for evidence are quite prevalent in the USA.
In the past two months alone, three Teslas have been towed in Auckland. This vehicle offers advantages for evidence gathering because it is equipped with the Sentry Mode security system. Typically, the owner is asked for permission to access the footage; however, if they cannot be contacted, a search warrant is issued, and the car is temporarily confiscated.
Another incident occurred in July outside a cosmetics store in Auckland. During a fight among a group of people, gunfire erupted, resulting in the death of a 27-year-old woman. Police, arriving at the scene, towed three vehicles (including a Tesla Model X) that were parked nearby, obtained the necessary evidence, and arrested two individuals.
Tesla describes Sentry Mode as "a feature that monitors activity around your car while it's parked and locked." Recording automatically begins upon detecting motion, depending on the threat level — likely involving loud noises, gunshots, or screams, and so on.
Source: carscoops
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