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If Only The Tesla Model S Actually Had A ‘Ticket Avoidance Mode’: Video

Apart from promises of a “Model W” wrist-adorning replica of Big Ben that could either function as a watch or a weapon, depending on the circumstance, Tesla Motors also put out another silly bit of communications for April Fools Day: a “Ticket Avoidance Mode” for the Tesla Model S.

The video below depicts what we’re on about. Through an over-the-air software patch, says the automaker, semi-autonomous-enabled Tesla Model S sedans would have the ability to detect a parking enforcement officer and deploy several tactics to evade a ticket, one of them being circling around the block until summoned.

At the time of this writing, over a month has lapsed since April Fools Day, so yes, the gag has already been around the block a few times (ha). Still, the premise is startlingly fathomable, which makes us wonder: what if such a thing actually existed? What would happen to the business of parking enforcement, let alone to the very idea of paid parking?

See, it would be theoretically possible in the future to send one’s car around the block a few times while the owner dips into the post office, retrieves his take-out, or what have you. City parking laws ensure that there is at least some deterrent to overly congested parking where space is limited. But if everyone had a Tesla Model S, capable of keeping busy while its owner ran errands, we’d simply trade so much parking congestion for so much road congestion.

How, then, does law enforcement deter that? Do enforcement officers copy the plates of every Tesla Model S to circle the block sans driver? Do parking laws slacken to at least lessen the widespread wasting of precious electrons? Or is it possible that legislation could require automakers to develop a “back door” exclusively for law enforcement by which the police could remotely take control?

We’ve no doubt that Tesla Motors didn’t intend for the implications of its “Ticket Avoidance Mode” video to be so thoroughly examined. But now, we’re actually intrigued…

Aaron Birch is an automotive enthusiast and writer/filmmaker from Detroit, MI. As a rule, he only buys cars older than himself.

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