Video footage shows a Tesla driver appearing to be asleep at the wheel while her electric vehicle travels along a freeway in California.
“Guys, you’re not going to believe this,” said Kiki Dolas, who filmed the Tesla cruising along the highway with the apparent sleeping driver behind the wheel. “I have to videotape this — this is a brand new Tesla. She doesn’t even have plates on it.”
“Just look at this. We’re on a freeway in California, where it’s bumper to bumper,” Dolas continued. “She is out. Sleeping. Completely knocked out. And this car is driving her. Look at how dangerous that is.”
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Dolas concluded by stating, “You guys, I’m sorry. That is too damn dangerous. Sleeping? And this car is driving you? Are you nuts?”
While Dolas filmed the video, her vehicle caught up to the Tesla to record footage of the driver appearing to be asleep. In the Tesla, a woman could be seen seemingly passed out, clad in sunglasses with her head nodded off to one side.
The incident was caught on video on February 2 in Temecula, California.
Dolas told KTLA that she and her partner were driving home from Las Vegas when they saw the Tesla driver seemingly asleep.
“My partner was getting ready to change lanes and he was like, ‘I think she’s sleeping,’ and I said ‘Who?’ And I looked over immediately,” she said. “As soon as I said that, the car actually sped off ahead of us. I just said, ‘Please hurry, please hurry.'”
“We started honking to try to get her attention because maybe she’s having a health emergency or something. I really wasn’t sure,” Dolas added. “So we couldn’t get her attention, the traffic is getting thicker and thicker so I said, ‘You know what? Let me call 911.'”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating Tesla regarding issues with its autopilot and self-driving features.
Tesla’s website specifically warns that its electric vehicles cannot drive themselves”
Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment. While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.
In October, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also stated that the company’s self-driving feature is not “quite ready to have no one behind the wheel.”
This is not the first time an incident like this has occurred. In 2019, a driver who appeared to be asleep was caught on the 5 Freeway in Santa Clarita, California, KTLA noted.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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