Because drivers of a Tesla can play video games while driving, the US traffic safety agency NHTSA has now opened an official investigation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Failure Investigation Department (ODI) fears that drivers could be distracted and the risk of accidents increased. Now she wants to “preliminarily evaluate” the function.
The study is about the Tesla models Model 3, S, X and Y built between 2017 and 2022, according to a statement from the NHTSA (PDF). Your Office of Defects Investigation had been reported that the gameplay function on the central touchscreen on the dashboard, which was visible from the front seats, could be activated while driving.
The ODI had received a report from a Tesla owner (Vehicle Owner Questionnaire, VOQ) describing the gameplay function and confirming that this function has been available in Tesla vehicles with “Passenger Play” since December 2020. Previously, the gameplay was only activated when the vehicle was stationary. The ODI now wants to assess how great the distraction potential “Passenger Play” is for the drivers and wants to include the game frequency and usage scenarios. Tesla has not yet issued a statement on this.
Three games
In the course of an update that was played over the air on the vehicles, three games got into the Teslas, reported the New York Timesafter the NHTSA first raised concerns: the shooting game Sky Force Reloaded, the card-laying game Solitaire and the strategy game The Battle of Polytopia. If you want to play a game, you have to confirm that you are not the driver at the touch of a finger.
Paragraph 23 of the German road traffic regulations stipulates that a driver may only use an electronic device for communication, entertainment, information or organization purposes if the device is not picked up and held for this purpose. To use the device, drivers are only allowed to briefly avert their gaze from what is happening on the road and use a hands-free facility or a reading function. In many cars in Germany, for example, the television function is switched off when the ignition is switched on.
This is how you can play Solitaire in a Tesla.
(anw)