California Tesla driver appears to be asleep at the wheel as car goes 75 mph on freeway
ATesla driver feeling particularly reckless (or just very sleepy) this week apparently decided a good time to take a nap was when he was behind the wheel of his automated car as it cruised at 75 miles per hour on a Los Angeles-area freeway.
The unidentified man was caught on camera by musician Seth Blake, who was in the LA area on tour with his band, Wage War, sfgate.com wrote.
“I noticed the guy was slouched way back in his chair, and I was like, ‘Is that guy sleeping?’ and I pull up next to him, he was asleep,” Blake told KCBS, an all-news radio station located in San Francisco, California, the US.
“So I asked my fiancé, I said, ‘Take a video of that, that guy’s sleeping’.”
Blake added that the man did appear to wake up once, look around and then go back to sleep.
Tesla has not yet responded to SFGATE’S request for comment, but its website states that Autopilot is “intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any time.”
It is not, as it clarifies, “a selfdriving system”.
But it wouldn’t be the first time a driver has abused the smart car’s automated abilities.
In April of last year, a British Tesla driver pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after another driver recorded him asleep in the car’s passenger seat while it was in motion.
Last December, a sleeping Tesla driver in the South Bay was caught by California Highway Patrol Officer (CHP) officers. After they were able to pull over the vehicle using some careful maneuvering, the driver failed a field sobriety test and was later arrested.