Tesla Banned
Picture this: majestic landscapes, stunning vistas, and acres of picturesque public lands in Utah. It’s the perfect playground for nature enthusiasts and outdoor adventurers, but suddenly there’s a plot twist. Tesla model cars are now banned from parking on these public lands from July 31 to December 31. Say what?!
Now, you might think, “Why on earth would they do that? Are Teslas causing some kind of environmental catastrophe?” Well, no. The problem lies in Tesla’s sentry mode feature. Yes, that same feature that’s meant to protect your precious electric vehicle from potential burglars or vandals.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure of owning a Tesla, sentry mode is like having a personal security team for your car. It activates a bunch of motion-sensing cameras when you leave your Tesla parked, turning it into a surveillance fortress. If anything moves near your vehicle, the motion sensing cameras start recording, and you get a notification on your phone, as if your car just yelled, “Hey, someone’s snooping around! Look alive!” At this point, the cars start recording video and audio that can be accessed by your phone.
Now, enter Utah lawmakers, who decided to define what a “trail camera” is in legal terms. A trail camera is now officially “a device that is not held or manually operated by a person and is capable of capturing images, video, or location data of wildlife using heat or motion to trigger the device.” Sounds a little familiar. . .
So, behold the birth of a new breed of trail cameras – parked Tesla cars! Tesla unwittingly stumbled into the world of wildlife surveillance. Imagine telling a group of confused tourists that the shiny Tesla over there is a state-of-the-art, high-tech trail camera.
Just like a carefully crafted sitcom, there’s a cherry on top of this absurdity sundae. To prevent any future Tesla-turned-trail-cam incidents, the lawmakers also declared that trail cameras (which happens to include those stealthy Teslas) are strictly off-limits on public lands from July 31 to December 31.
So, there you have it, folks. Teslas are now outlawed wildlife surveillance equipment (trail cameras) in Utah’s great outdoors. Remember, from July 31 to December 31, if you see a parked Tesla on Utah public lands, it’s not there to go on a scenic road trip but to keep an eye on the critters roaming about (insert eye roll here).
Who knows, maybe this unexpected turn of events will inspire other car manufacturers to design “nature-friendly” vehicles or pave the way for an eco-conscious wildlife reality show titled “Tesla Trails: Spying on Squirrels.” Until then, let’s all appreciate the quirky and unpredictable ways laws can take shape, leaving us all in delightful bewilderment. Drive on, Tesla owners, just don’t park on Utah’s public lands out of trail camera season!
Serious Note: Utah Trail Camera Law
As funny as it is to joke about the trail camera law, in the end, Utah has really defined what a trail camera is as, “a device that is not held or manually operated by a person and is capable of capturing images, video, or location data of wildlife using heat or motion to trigger the device.” If a device falls under this definition it is officially banned on public land in Utah from July 31 to December 31.
Simply put, this law infringes on the First Amendment of the Constitution. It takes away a form of photography (which is protected under free speech) that does no harm to people or wildlife. In fact, the law even states that during this period of time, the only people that can use trail cameras are people approved by the government.
Please help our small business and reach out to your local representative so we can reverse this law and continue to publish amazing footage for everyone.