US investigates claim Tesla drivers can play video games while driving
The US has opened a formal investigation into a report that Tesla vehicles allow people to play video games on a center touch screen while they are driving.
The investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 580,000 electric cars and SUVs from model years 2017 through 2022.
The action follows a complaint to the agency that Teslas equipped with “gameplay functionality” allow games to be played by the driver while in motion.
In a document posted online Wednesday, the agency says the feature, called “Passenger Play,” may distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash.
The agency’s office of defects investigation said in the document that the game capability has been available since December 2020. Before that date, the games could only be played while the Teslas’ automatic system were in “park” mode.
The investigation, which covers all four Tesla models, the S, X, Y and 3, was opened “to evaluate the driver distraction potential of Tesla ‘Passenger Play’ while the vehicle is being driven”.
Investigators “will evaluate aspects of the feature, including the frequency and use scenarios of Tesla ‘Passenger Play’.”
The NHTSA documents do not list any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.
NHTSA said on Wednesday the decision to open the investigation was based on reports that “Tesla’s gameplay functionality is visible from the driver’s seat and can be enabled while driving the vehicle”.
The Governors Highway Safety Association said on Wednesday it was pleased with NHTSA’s Tesla safety investigation “and want to remind all drivers to be alert and focused on the road when you’re behind the wheel”. Tesla has not commented. An investigation can lead to a recall. Tesla vehicle owner Vince Patton, who lives near Portland, Oregon, filed the complaint with the agency last month. In August, he was watching a YouTube video of a Tesla owner who discovered that he could now play a video game on his touch-screen while the vehicle is moving.
Curious to see for himself, Patton drove his own 2021 Tesla Model 3 to an empty community college parking lot, activated a game called “Sky Force Reloaded” from a menu and did a few loops.
“I was just dumbfounded that, yes, sure enough, this sophisticated video game came up,” said Patton, a 59-year
old retired broadcast journalist.
He tried Solitaire, too, and was able to activate that game while driving. Later, he found he could browse the internet while his car was moving.
“Somebody’s going to get killed,” he said. “It’s absolutely insane.”
Earlier in December, Mercedes-Benz issued a recall for a similar issue caused by a computer configuration error, raising questions about whether Tesla was being allowed to do something that other automakers are not. Most automakers disable front touch screens while vehicles are moving.
Meanwhile, The NHTSA in August began investigating 765,000 Tesla vehicles over its driver-assistance system Autopilot after a series of crashes involving the system and parked emergency vehicles.