In a concerning incident, a safety driver responsible for overseeing the autonomous operation of a Tesla Robotaxi was caught on camera appearing to fall asleep at the wheel. This unsettling moment was captured by a worried passenger.

The footage surfaced on Reddit, posted by an anonymous user who disclosed that the incident occurred over a week before it was shared. The passenger was en route to UC San Francisco’s hospital when the alarming situation unfolded.

“The safety driver literally fell asleep at least three times during the ride,” the user reported. The passenger noted that the driver only stirred from slumber when the car’s “pay attention” safety alert was triggered, emitting a beeping sound to regain his attention.

The individual explained that he initially refrained from making the footage public, hoping to give Tesla a chance to address the situation privately before taking further action.

‘I held off on posting anything because I wanted to give Tesla a chance to respond privately,’ he added.

‘It has been more than a week now and this feels like a serious issue for other riders too.’

The passenger claimed to have reported the worrying event through the Tesla Robotaxi app to a support team while also offering accompanying videos.

The user said he had not heard back from Elon Musk’s company.

A Reddit user shared footage of his Tesla Robotaxi safety driver seemingly falling asleep behind the wheel of his car ‘at least three times’

The rider claimed his safety driver only woke up after the car’s ‘pay attention’ safety alert went off

The rider went on to explain that he usually preferred Waymo, the autonomous car service originally known as the Google self-driving car project.

He opted for Tesla this time since he needed to arrive at his destination quickly.

‘Waymo is great, but they don’t go on the freeway yet,’ he posted, reporting a 20-minute difference in journey time between both self-driving apps.

The user said he had used Tesla’s Robotaxi ‘a few times before’ with great results.

‘I actually felt safer than in a regular rideshare,’ he said.

But, the Bay Area resident added, ‘this time was different.’

He said ‘major harm’ could have been caused to others and that he should have acted more forcefully once he noticed the driver drifting off.

‘I was going to the hospital before 7am in the morning for a scan and I wasn’t in a great mental space,’ he wrote.

The Reddit user shared a snippet of his planned Tesla Robotaxi trip, which he said felt unsafe and could have resulted in ‘major harm’ to others

He said he was going to UC San Francisco’s hospital when the driver started to fall asleep at his wheel

‘In hindsight I should have woken them up, but I was more concerned about and focused on my scan.’

The user claimed he returned home in a Waymo car.

He added: ‘The Tesla Robotaxi should be safer because there’s a human in the seat with the sole job of ‘safety’. In this case though, it’s a major fail.’

Tesla began rolling out its Robotaxis in the Bay Area in July.

However, the company’s permit with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) only allows for passengers to be picked up if a human is in the driver’s seat.

The company does not have the CPUC’s permission to offer an autonomous passenger service to customers, unlike Waymo.

Tesla also offers Robotaxis with safety monitors in Austin, Texas.

Tesla Robotaxis are also available in Austin, Texas, where seven crashes have been reported

The anonymous Reddit user claimed he returned home in a Waymo, which are widely available in San Francisco, rather than a Tesla Robotaxi

Robotaxis will soon arrive in Arizona too, but only under the supervision of a driver, Bloomberg reported.

Tesla has claimed that supervised self-driving improves road safety in the US by 80 percent and could save up to 32,000 lives per year.

So far in 2025 the company has reported seven crashes in Austin, according to data published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

None of them caused hospitalizations. 

The Daily Mail reached out to Tesla, the California Public Utilities Commission and the anonymous Reddit user for comment.