Self-driving car? Man teases $150 'new technology' which got people thinking it's the real deal

Self-driving vehicles might be seen as something straight out of a sci-fi movie, but a man's sales pitch on social media has got netizens thinking it's the real deal.

A video uploaded on Facebook — with over 77,000 views and 3,300 shares — by Rafeek Abdul on Wednesday (Nov 3) showed the 46-year-old lifting his hands off the steering wheel while the car appeared to still be in-motion.

Turning to face his friend, who was holding on to the camera, Rafeek said: "I just give [the car] instructions, In this case, I want to turn right, so I will say 'Audi, turn right'.

"Imagine you drive to KL without touching the steering wheel. Superb."

After bragging that he could sit back and read the papers, Rafeek told his friend to show the front of the car.

It turns out that this 'automated' vehicle they were 'driving' on the whole time was actually being led away by a tow truck.

"For just $150, you can get a self-drive as well," the friend said, as the pair burst into laughter.

In the comments, some netizens admitted that they were caught out by Rafeek's rather convincing sales pitch, but some felt there were clues in the video which gave away the ending.

Speaking to AsiaOne on Friday (Nov 5), Rafeek said that the video was filmed during the 15-minutes journey to a car workshop in Ubi after his vehicle broke down at Bedok North.

The financial consultant said: "Instead of feeling angry, I decided to have some fun with it with my friend. No rehearsals whatsoever, so whatever we said was just impromptu.

"It was just to put some smiles on the faces of my Facebook friends, but little did I know it spread like wildfire. It's great to see that a majority of Singaporeans have a sense of humour as well."

chingshijie@asiaone.com