This is what being asleep at the wheel of a tesla model s looks like … we think

What happens when you fall asleep in a Tesla Model S with autopilot on? You look like a dangerous drool-bucket in front of the world in an embarrassing viral GIF. You apparently also don’t crash, thank goodness.

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That’s what happened to , recently caught on camera snoozing at the wheel — make that hands off of the wheel. The driver, thankfully seatbelted in, appeared to be so knocked out, he was slumped down in the blue Tesla’s driver seat with his bearded head flopped back, the sun shining bright on his face like a wake-up call. It’s plain to see that there are no hands on the wheel, but what about his knees?

A clever someone going by the username , who claims to be a “ Tesla investor and future Model 3 owner,” posted the video evidence in a in wonderfully shareable GIF form. The GIF reportedly first appeared on last Monday.

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The sleepyhead’s nagging “ hold steering wheel alarm” was likely on and beeping away — and likely being ignored. If the snoozer’s hands were off of the steering wheel for long enough, the luxury ride would have slowed itself down, clicked the flashing hazard lights on and, finally, come to a complete stop. Yup, right there in the middle of the road. (Check out of a Tesla doing just that by the dark of night.)

We have to admit, we’re skeptical of this catchy clip. With criticism of self-driving cars swirling, our hunch is that it’s a staged video made in the hopes of driving the argument that autonomous vehicles are safe to get behind the wheel of, even when you’re asleep.

You can’t pay for this kind of publicity. Maybe someone did.

Real or hoax?

What do you think? Is the slumbering driver the real-deal or a faker? Let us know via the (anonymous) Twitter poll below.

I vote the latter. How about you? (not so much) via

— Kim LachanceShandrow (@LaShandrow)