Video games at wheel
As Tesla tech lets owners play as they drive, is hasty U-turn ahead?
ELECTRIC car maker Tesla has released a computer update that allows drivers to play video games while the vehicle is moving.
The software has been sent to Tesla drivers in the UK and the US and allows games to be played on a car’s central touchscreen while it is moving.
Drivers can choose from several games, including Solitaire, an arcade shooter called Sky Force Reloaded and a strategy game called The Battle of Polytopia.
Before the update it was possible to play games only when the car was parked. Now a game can be selected while the vehicle is in motion and the player is asked to confirm they are not the driver. This can be bypassed simply by pressing the ‘I am a passenger’ option.
Some drivers have expressed concerns about the update. A motorists who reviews new Tesla features on YouTube described the update as ‘pretty dangerous’.
The reviewer said: ‘They need to make this [feature] sync with a seat sensor, because this is pretty dangerous. I’m sure someone is going to use autopilot and then play Solitaire while they are on autopilot. Take note of that, Tesla.’
Tesla’s autopilot feature can independently steer, change lanes, accelerate or brake but drivers are still expected to have their hands on the steering wheel. Another YouTube user, called CF Tesla, said: ‘I did wonder if this was one of those things where if you started going 5 or 10mph that the game would pause or shut off, but as I drove through my neighbourhood checking it out, it kept working.’
Safety campaigners say even if it is the passenger playing, it could be a dangerous distraction.
According to driving laws in Britain, motorists can use screens only when ‘viewing driving information related to the state of the vehicle or its equipment, when navigation is displayed, or when assisting in viewing the road around the vehicle’. Screens used for anything else ‘should not be visible to the driver while the vehicle is being driven’.
Next year the law will be tightened to ban any use of a handheld device while driving, including to take photos or play games, with rule-breakers facing a £200 fine and six points on their licence.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was looking into the new feature and is in discussions with Tesla.
A spokesman said: ‘Distractionaffected crashes are a concern, particularly in vehicles equipped with an array of convenience technologies such as entertainment screens.’ Government figures showed that 17 people were killed in the UK last year in crashes involving drivers distracted by mobile phones. A further 114 were seriously injured and 385 were slightly injured.
Tesla was contacted for comment last night.
‘This is pretty dangerous’