[Tomte]

"not paying attention"

[swarnie_]

I've been opening bottles or changing the radio station in my non-auto pilot cars for years.

Does everyone else pull over to change the CD or take a sip of water?

[Tomte]

Yes, we all do stuff like that.

I may have worded my reply too strongly, see another comment about "second set of eyes".

But this is dangerous. When I open a bottle in my car, I know that it's a more dangerous situation than usual, I pay more attention, choose the right moment and see that I finish drinking quickly.

A Tesla driver can easily fool himself into "everything's fine, let me sip from the bottle for sevetal minutes and maybe search through my audio CDs".

[mohaine]

But you said it was illegal, which it clearly isn't.

[Tomte]

Of course not paying attention while driving is illegal.