Is it possible for Tesla drivers to fall asleep at the wheel?

After startling video surfaced of a Tesla driver apparently asleep at the wheel while travelling at high speeds on a busy Ontario highway, questions are now being asked if something like this is even possible?

Louise Lesser was heading towards the U.S. border when she captured the now viral video near St. Catharines, Ont., which was shared with CityNews on Friday.

Lesser estimates they were going approximately 110 km/h on the Queen Elizabeth Way when they began shooting the video. She said the driver’s eyes appeared to be closed for about 10 to 15 minutes before he appeared to retake control of the car as the vehicles approached Fort Erie, Ont.

“I’ve seen that highway go from 100 to zero in five seconds. That highway is notorious for back-up traffic and slamming on breaks,” she explained. “Knowing that, not only was he not paying attention to what his car was doing, but he wasn’t paying attention to the surroundings.”

When asked why they didn’t alert police, Lesser said they weren’t sure if they should be calling the emergency line or not, adding they thought they might be asked to follow the vehicle.

Sgt. Kerry Schmidt with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) tells CityNews he’s concerned that officers weren’t made aware of the incident on the highway, adding drivers would be asked for the location of the incident but there would be no obligation to follow.

“If someone sees an impaired driver, they are going to call 9-1-1 so fast and if someone sees an unconscious driver, I would expect them to do the same thing.”

But is it possible for someone to drive an autonomous vehicle while asleep? According to Tesla’s website the ‘Autopilot’ function in one of its cars “will deliver an escalating series of visual and audio warnings, reminding you to place your hands on the wheel. If you repeatedly ignore these warnings, you will be locked out from using Autopilot during that trip.”

Schmidt tells CityNews he has seen similar technology in action.

“I’ve actually driven in an auto-piloted vehicle in the past, and it is fascinating technology, and you can go hands-off on a vehicle for a certain amount of time,” he said. “But it will start to alert and warn and ask for driver input after a short distance.”

Opher Baron, an autonomous vehicle expert at the University of Toronto, says while technology is advancing our roads aren’t ready for fully driverless cars.

“If I want to see how my car reacts when I sit and lift my hands off the wheel and I let it drive, but I am in control, that is one thing. But falling asleep at 100 kilometres per hour, that’s just putting too much risk on others.”

Baron says while autonomous vehicles could one day help prevent things like drunk or impaired drivers, driving is still very unpredictable, pointing to things like blown tires or debris suddenly falling onto the road.

Const. Sean Shapiro of Toronto Traffic Services tells CityNews truly self-driving cars are not yet legal in Ontario.

“To be clear, the driver is still responsible for the safe operation of the motor vehicle at all times.”

As for the possibility of charges being laid against the driver, Schmidt says while he’s aware of the video that was circulating online, they have not received an official complaint about it.