Tesla Robotaxi Driver Caught Asleep at the Wheel
▼ Summary
– Tesla’s profits are shrinking and its vehicle models are aging while the company focuses on developing new business lines.
– Elon Musk claims Optimus robots will eventually perform nearly any task, including preventing crimes, though the technology doesn’t exist yet.
– Tesla has launched limited robotaxi services in Austin, Texas and parts of San Francisco as part of its autonomous vehicle plans.
– A Tesla rideshare passenger in San Francisco documented a safety driver falling asleep three times during their journey.
– The passenger reported the incident to Tesla but received no response after sharing video evidence on Reddit.
Navigating the future of urban mobility, Tesla’s ambitious Robotaxi program faces a critical safety challenge following a recent incident in San Francisco. A passenger using the service captured footage of the vehicle’s safety operator repeatedly dozing off during a ride, raising urgent questions about the human oversight intended to supplement the company’s autonomous driving technology.
The event, shared on Reddit by user ohmichael, occurred just over a week ago. A twelve-second video clip shows a man in the driver’s seat of a moving Tesla visibly asleep before briefly rousing himself. According to the passenger’s account, this was not an isolated moment, the safety driver fell asleep on three separate occasions during the trip. After witnessing this concerning behavior, the rider attempted to report the incident directly to Tesla but claims to have received no response from the company.
This episode arrives during a pivotal period for Tesla, as the automaker contends with declining profits and an aging vehicle lineup while aggressively pursuing new technological frontiers. CEO Elon Musk continues to promote a vision dominated by advanced robotics and autonomous transport, recently suggesting his Optimus humanoid robots could someday follow people to prevent criminal activity, a concept that remains firmly in the theoretical stage.
The Robotaxi service itself represents a more immediate venture, currently operating in limited capacities within Austin, Texas and select areas of San Francisco. These early deployments rely on human safety drivers to monitor the vehicle’s autonomous functions and intervene if necessary. The sleeping incident underscores the practical difficulties of maintaining alertness during largely passive monitoring tasks, a known challenge in automation oversight roles across industries.
As Tesla pushes forward with its autonomous ambitions, this incident highlights the complex transition phase between human-driven and fully self-driving vehicles. The company must now address not only the technological hurdles of autonomy but also the human factors involved in supervising these systems during their development and testing phases.
(Source: Ars Technica)
