The driver was caught with her head back and leaning on the side window
by Michael Gauthier
2 hours ago
by Michael Gauthier
Despite names like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, Tesla’s driver assistance systems don’t make their vehicles fully autonomous and the company says they’re only “intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment.”
However, as we’ve seen countless times before, Tesla owners put too much faith in technology. The latest incident occurred in Los Angeles as Joshua Cadena recorded a driver apparently asleep behind the wheel while traveling on the freeway.
Also: Tesla Model Y Driver Caught Sleeping At Highway Speeds
Cadena shared the footage with KTLA 5 and it shows the Tesla pull up alongside him as he remarks the woman is “dead asleep.” That seems to be the case as the woman’s head is back and apparently leaning on the side window. After a few seconds, the woman appears to wake up as she lifts her head and continues on her way.
It remains unclear if the incident was reported to police, but it comes shortly after another Tesla owner was spotted snoozing behind the wheel. In that case, a witness followed the driver for 15 minutes and honked their horn in an attempt to get their attention. After failing to get a response, police were called.
While details about the incidents are limited, Tesla’s driver monitoring system has been slammed for being ineffective in the past. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has even suggested on Twitter that owners should be able to turn off the warning that reminds them to keep their hands on the wheel, prompting the NHTSA to ask the automaker for more information about the tweet.