# He was allegedly asleep as his Tesla drove on a Bay Area freeway. Turns out there’s no law against that.

> Source: <https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/09/19/asleep-in-tesla-bay-area-freeway/>
> Published: 2026-09-19 17:51:06+00:00

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A Tesla’s driver was pulled over for apparently sleeping at the wheel on Interstate 80 in Solano County, the California Highway Patrol said.

Because there’s no specific law against that, he was cited for “unsafe speed.”

“What’s the safe speed for being asleep? Zero miles per hour,” said Scott Heitman, an officer with the CHP’s Solano division.

The car, in self-driving mode, was reportedly going 60 mph when an officer spotted it on Sept. 2. The driver was wearing dark glasses and slumped in his seat, the CHP said.

It’s the latest incident in which a driver was asleep or otherwise engaged in a self-driving Tesla. In March of this year, video went viral of both the driver and his front-seat passenger apparently sleeping [in a Tesla on Highway 4 in Pittsburg](https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/video-tesla-driver-appears-to-be-sleeping-behind-wheel-on-east-bay-highway/).
