You can always count on people to find ways to bypass car safety systems, even if that means putting their own lives in danger.
You probably heard about basic defeat devices such as dummy seatbelt buckles or sensor taping, or more elaborate workarounds like disabling the auto engine stop-start system via OBD port programming or, more recently, strapping weights to the steering wheel to trick Tesla Autopilot into believing human hands are applying torque.
They may be clever and low-tech, but they pale in comparison to the latest one devised in China to fool Tesla’s in-car driver monitoring system into thinking that the driver is paying attention to the road. It’s not just simple but also hilarious—albeit incredibly dangerous and reckless.
Figurine Heads Are A Surprisingly Low-Tech Solution To Beat Tesla’s Vigilance
A tiny plastic doll head may have just exposed a major weakness in Tesla’s self driving safety system.
Drivers in China are reportedly using them to trick the car into thinking they’re watching the road. pic.twitter.com/BPYAClt270
— D Composites (@CompositesD) June 17, 2026
Chinese e-commerce websites offer a variety of tiny plastic doll heads designed to be mounted in front of the rearview mirror to face Tesla’s in-cabin camera directly and trick it into thinking the driver is paying attention when Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised) features are active.
Depending on the quality and the depicted celebrity, the figurine heads are priced from $10 to $50 and are marketed as “travel companions” and “dashboard decorations” on some of the websites.
Of course, they are much more than that as they serve to fool Tesla’s driver monitoring system, which tracks head position and eye movement to ensure drivers keep their eyes on the road. When placed in the right position so that the doll head blocks the camera’s view of the actual driver, it’s enough to satisfy the system’s detection requirements.
According to Digital Trends, one Tesla Model 3 owner in China used a fake head resembling Dwayne Johnson and drove for 30 minutes without a single safety alert while using one hand to eat sunflower seeds and the other to film his antics. Imagine how dangerous that can be should FSD require human intervention.
Is Tesla Going To Do Something About It?
Wow China is coming up with so many techniques to beat the FSD driver monitoring system. This one is new pic.twitter.com/bPW8QOso7f
— John Ee (@heyJohnEe) June 5, 2026
The crazy thing about this trend is that it’s not limited to figurine heads. A Wired report notes that some drivers in China are using photographs placed in front of the camera or lenticular images that appear to blink when viewed from different angles. Others who are more resourceful use small display screens that play looping videos of a person’s face moving naturally and blinking.
This wave of camera-focused gadgets reportedly emerged after Tesla introduced stricter distracted-driver monitoring in China through a software update last year, which prompted some owners to look for ways to defeat the safeguards.
Needless to say, these gadgets are incredibly dangerous as they potentially put the lives of passengers and other road users in danger. Tesla hasn’t yet publicly commented on the gadgets or whether it plans to block such workarounds (through an OTA software update, maybe?), but it’s pretty clear that the trend is spreading judging by the multitude of videos shared on social media by Tesla owners in China.
