On Aug. 17, 2019, people in a passing car got video of a driver seemingly sleeping behind the wheel of a Tesla on I-5 near Santa Clarita.
"He was completely out, sound asleep," said Clint Olivier, the driver who saw the Tesla. "My wife was on her phone on Instagram or something and I said, 'Get off your phone and record this!'"
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Just a few months earlier, on June 12, 2019, a video appeared to show a driver fast asleep in his Tesla Model 3 as the car sailed down the 405 Freeway during rush hour traffic.
In another, the driver in this video from March 9, 2019 seemed to show a man asleep at the wheel while his Tesla was on Autopilot on a busy Los Angeles freeway.
"I think this guy is passed out in his Tesla," said Seth Blake, who was driving from Anaheim to Los Angeles with his fiancé, who shot the video.
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Tesla's website advises drivers that "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." Tesla says Autopilot is not the same as self-driving.
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