---
title: "“Fully Sleeping” Tesla Driver Cruises 30 Miles on Autopilot"
description: "A sleeping Tesla driver let Autopilot take the wheel for 30 miles on one of the busiest freeways in the U.S. — and his snooze appears deliberate."
date: "2019-06-17"
modified: "2019-06-17"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sleeping-tesla-driver-autopilot"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Sleep"
  - "Tesla"
tags:
  - "autopilot"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# “Fully Sleeping” Tesla Driver Cruises 30 Miles on Autopilot

![A sleeping Tesla driver let Autopilot take the wheel for 30 miles on one of the busiest freeways in the U.S. — and his snooze appears deliberate.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/fully-sleeping-tesla-driver-autopilot.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: YouTube/OMG-Tesla/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## 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](<https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Sleeping-Driver-405-Freeway-Los-Angeles-Tesla-Autopilot-511237312.html>) 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](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/drunk-tesla-driver-autopilot>) as it should be. But while past sightings could be attributed to [exhaustion or drunkenness](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/drunk-tesla-driver-autopilot>), this driver's snooze seemed intentional — he was reportedly using a device designed to trick Autopilot into thinking he was paying attention.

https://youtu.be/0rio08bhc-A

## 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*](<https://electrek.co/2019/06/16/tesla-driver-caught-sleepingn-autopilot-blame/>), 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](<https://electrek.co/2018/06/19/tesla-autopilot-buddy-hack-nag-shut-down-nthsa/>) one such device, the Autopilot Buddy, but its makers got around the ban by [relaunching](<https://electrek.co/2018/09/09/tesla-autopilot-buddy-hack-avoid-nag-relaunch-phone-mount-nhtsa-ban/>) 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](<https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Sleeping-Driver-405-Freeway-Los-Angeles-Tesla-Autopilot-511237312.html>) \[*NBC4*\]

**More on Tesla:** *[Drunk Tesla Driver Relies on Autopilot, Gets Busted by Police](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/drunk-tesla-driver-autopilot>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)