Caught on video: Tesla driver apparently asleep at the wheel on 15 Freeway in Temecula

TEMECULA, Calif. (KABC) — A driver encountered another woman who was apparently asleep at the wheel of a Tesla traveling along a California freeway.

Kiki Dolas spoke with Eyewitness News and said she was driving along the 15 Freeway in Temecula on Thursday and recorded a video of the alarming sight.

“At first, we thought, you know, it was a health issue or something, because she was kind of slumped,” she said.

The video shows a woman with glasses in the driver’s seat of the white Tesla, slouched and seemingly asleep as the car moved forward.

“You guys! You’re not going to believe this… She is out, sleeping. Completely knocked out, Dolas is heard saying in the video.

“It was just kind of riding alongside of us,” said Dolas. “It would accelerate a little and then slow down, even when there wasn’t that many cars ahead of it. At one point, it just sort of took off. We actually had to accelerate ourselves to go catch up with it.”

She said she followed the Tesla for 15 minutes, honking and trying to wake the woman before calling police.

“To actually be sleeping and entrust your whole life, you know, for a car to just drive you is just astonishing to me how anybody would do it,” said Dolas.

This comes as Tesla is under investigation over its autopilot system after dozens of crashes.

“This technology is really cool, it’s very futuristic, it’s going to be here one day when the automakers perfect this technology,” said Doug Shupe with AAA. “But right now, our research shows that drivers would prefer that these automakers focus on the current advanced driver assistance systems, make them fool proof, before moving on to self-driving vehicles.”

Dolas told ABC7 the California Highway Patrol contacted her following the incident and confirmed the woman was not suffering a medical issue and that she was in fact asleep.

Eyewitness News reached out to CHP for an update but has not received a response.