Video shows Tesla crossing busy Vancouver bridge with driver apparently asleep
Imagine crossing a bridge in traffic and noticing that the driver next to you appears to be asleep. That's what happened to a Metro Vancouver resident as he was crossing the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge to North Vancouver Thursday afternoon.
"I just glanced over and the woman behind the wheel was completely asleep," said Luke, who asked CTV News Vancouver to refer to him by his first name and his Instagram handle, @barneee750.
"I immediately pulled my phone out and just started recording that."
Video Luke posted to Instagram shows a young woman behind the wheel of a Tesla. She's leaning back and her eyes are closed, and Luke told CTV News she was fast asleep.
He was in the passenger seat of the vehicle next to the Tesla, and said he wasn't really sure what he would do with the video as he was recording it.
"It was mostly out of disbelief that anybody would actually commute in their car on the highway over a very busy bridge completely asleep," he said.
The video has since been provided to North Vancouver RCMP, and Luke says the driver could face a fine and six penalty points for driving without due care.
Tesla's Autopilot feature allows a car to steer, accelerate and brake within its lane, but it requires active driver supervision and doesn't make the vehicle autonomous.
Luke said he's been in several Teslas with Autopilot, and that he has a good deal of faith in the technology.
"I trust it to a certain extent, but not enough to be completely unconscious behind the wheel, that's for sure," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 60 hours - a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.