VIDEO: Tesla Driver Appears To Be Asleep At The Wheel On LA Area Freeway
LA PUENTE (CBSLA) – A startling cell phone video appears to show a man snoozing while his car is on autopilot on a busy freeway.
A similar video was posted to Reddit a month and a half before the incident Monday morning.
"We were going about 75 [mph] on the highway, and he was just totally out," said Seth Blake.
Blake was driving from Anaheim to Los Angeles when he spotted what appeared to be the same Tesla and driver in the Reddit video.
"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. So I asked my fiancé, I said, 'Take a video of that, that guy's sleeping,'" he said.
Blake said it wasn't something he was expecting to see, especially since he was only visiting from Florida with his band, Wage War. He posted the video to Twitter and it went viral.
Dude is straight snoozing going 75mph on the interstate, letting his @Tesla do the work. ???????? pic.twitter.com/RQD2LBSnGh
— SETH BLAKE (@SethWageWar) March 4, 2019
"We were in his area when we were driving only for about 10 minutes, and he only woke up one time, and kind of like looked around and went back to sleep," Blake said.
Tesla declined to comment on the video. But according to the company's website, "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."
"He did have his hand positioned into the steering wheel while he was asleep, so I think that it wouldn't fall off, and that's what made it possible for him to keep driving while he was asleep. He was applying pressure even though he wasn't awake," Blake said.
Tesla says the autopilot function is intended to increase safety on the roads.