LA PUENTE, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS/CNN NEWSOURCE) — A startling cellphone video appears to show a man asleep at the wheel while his car is on autopilot on a busy Los Angeles freeway.
Cellphone video posted to Reddit a month and a half ago shows a passed out driver on the freeway. Then on Monday morning, there was another encounter.
“So we were going about 75 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.
“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, said, ‘Take a video that guy is sleeping,'” said Blake.
Tesla declined to comment on the video when reached by a reporter.
According to the company, autopilot is intended for use only 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,” said Blake. “He was applying pressure even though he wasn’t awake.”
Tesla says the autopilot function is intended to increase safety on the roads.
