"Fully Sleeping" Tesla Driver Cruises 30 Miles on Autopilot

He used a device designed to trick Autopilot into thinking he was awake.

Scheduled Sleep

Yet another Tesla driver has been caught on camera asleep behind the wheel — and this time, it clearly wasn't an accident.

On Friday, Los Angeles' NBC4 reported that a driver spotted a man "fully sleeping" in his Tesla while the car's Autopilot system drove it for 30 miles down the busy 405 Freeway.

A sleeping Tesla driver isn't as uncommon of a sight as it should be. But while past sightings could be attributed to exhaustion or drunkenness, this driver's snooze seemed intentional — he was reportedly using a device designed to trick Autopilot into thinking he was paying attention.

 

Cheat the System

The driver who spotted the sleeping Tesla owner told NBC4 he noticed "something tied around the steering wheel" — and according to Electrek, that "something" was likely a device designed to trick Autopilot into sensing that a person is gripping the wheel.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration banned one such device, the Autopilot Buddy, but its makers got around the ban by relaunching as a "phone mount" — and clearly, at least some Tesla drivers are still willing to use these devices in an extremely risky attempt to catch up on some sleep.

READ MORE: Tesla Driver Appeared to Be 'Fully Sleeping' for at Least 30 Miles on SoCal's 405 Freeway [NBC4]

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