Tesla Users Can Play In-Car Video Games On The Road, Safety Agency Investigating
Photo 235545521 © Sylvain Robin | Dreamstime.com
The touchscreen display in Tesla cars has an ‘Entertainment’ tab with programs that drivers and passengers can access at their leisure, like Disney+. And while these shows and games have been built into the software for a while now, they’re usually streamable only when the vehicle is parked.
However, some newer options can be played even when the car is on the move, as reported by the New York Times, citing a discovery by Tesla Model 3 owner Vince Patton. As part of a software update in summer, Tesla released three video games that can be accessed while driving, including a game of Solitaire that Patton tried out “for like five seconds” in a parking lot with the motor on, before swiftly switching it off.
“I’m astonished,” he told the news outlet. “To me, it just seems inherently dangerous.”
The video games, made available in most Tesla cars during the summer, can be played by drivers or passengers while being in full view of drivers. “It’s a big concern,” Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, remarked to the Times, noting the greater risks posed as the display is fully visible by the driver.
Having been alerted by the report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the leading federal auto safety regulator in the US, has said that it is making an inquiry into the update and is “discussing the feature with the manufacturer.” This comes just days after investigations were launched to examine undisclosed fire risks in Tesla’s own solar panels.
“Distraction-affected crashes are a concern, particularly in vehicles equipped with an array of convenience technologies such as entertainment screens,” the NHTSA comments. It stresses that selling cars with “design defects” that could jeopardize one’s safety is prohibited.
Per a followup report by the Times, Tesla seems to know the new video games can be played when a car isn’t parked. Upon launching the Solitaire game, for instance, the user would be shown the message: “Solitaire is for everyone but playing while the car is in motion is only for passengers.” They would then have to confirm that the game is being played by a passenger, though, as the publication points out, that’s easy to falsify.
[via The New York Times, cover photo 235545521 © Sylvain Robin | Dreamstime.com]
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