Tesla Driver Falls Asleep During Autopilot [Watch The Video Here]
Another Tesla driver was recently found asleep in Massachusetts Turnpike while driving on Interstate 90. The driver in question was also with a co-passenger who was also asleep as the Tesla electric car cruised around 55-60 mph on cruise control.
The incident was recorded by a fellow motorist, Dakota Randall, as he was passing by a self-driving car. According to him, the guy was seemed totally unconscious and he was “head between his legs completely asleep.”
Tesla Driver Falls Asleep
Some guy literally asleep at the wheel on the Mass Pike (great place for it).
Teslas are sick, I guess? pic.twitter.com/ARSpj1rbVn
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandall) September 8, 2019
The incident scared Dakota Randall as he swore never to look at the self-driving cars in the same manner. Randall drove around 45 seconds to a minute around the Tesla and tried honking several times to wake the driver and the passengers up.
The sleeping duo, however, didn’t wake up and Randall sped away after that. After seeing this usage of a self-driving car, Randall says that he’ll always drive differently around these vehicles.
No complaint has been registered against the driver, however, Boston police have seen the video and the driver will likely be charged with negligence and impaired driving.
Can You Sleep With Tesla AutoPilot On?
A lot of people ask this question about Tesla cars and the answer is NO. You cannot sleep in a Tesla with Autopilot ON. It is a feature only meant to assist the driver on the road when he’s paying complete attention.
Furthermore, Tesla officially states that the Auto-pilot feature is only meant to be used under human supervision. The driver’s hands should be on the steering wheel and they must be ready to take control whenever the Autopilot system says so.
However, it also begs the question “what will happen if a driver falls asleep with Auto-driver ON?” This is an issue for which even the NTSB recently found Tesla guilty in a 2018 crash involving a Model S.
During the accident, the driver was not paying attention while the Autopilot was ON. The feds commanded Tesla to develop a passenger monitoring system to make sure that the driver is completely awake and alert while driving, especially during autopilot.
However, during a crash in Moscow involving Tesla Model 3, the driver claimed that he had his hands on the steering all the time but the car still crashed.
Humans are bad at monitoring machines, according to the Wired, which covered this incident. Even the former acting head of NHTSA said that “humans are really bad at watching the paint dry.”
Sleeping Tesla Drivers
This isn’t the first time a Tesla driver has been caught not paying attention when Autopilot is engaged. In March 2018, a Tesla driver was found sleeping in a moving car while on an LA freeway.
Then again last month, another driver was spotted taking a nap while Tesla cruised around on the California freeway.
There’s no sure way of telling whether, after this incident, Tesla will take serious action to solve the problems of “sleepy Tesla drivers.” However, the police action in the latest case will surely knock some sense into the driver’s sleepy head.
Also Read: Tesla Autopilot Crash In Moscow; Driver And Family Barely Escapes
