Tesla, after being under pressure from the US auto safety regulations, has agreed to stop allowing drivers to play video games on the center touch screen in its vehicles while the car is on the move.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the company will send out a software update over the internet. With the update, the function called “Passenger Play” will be locked and won’t work while vehicles are in motion.
The move comes just a day after the agency announced it would open a formal investigation into distracted driving concerns about Tesla’s video games, which could be played while cars are being driven.
The investigation had found that the feature called “Passenger Play” has been available to drivers since December 2020 where games appear on the large touchscreen in the center of the dashboard. While the name indicates that the feature is intended to be played by passengers, nothing prevented drivers from playing while the car is being driven.
Earlier, the feature was enabled only when the vehicle was in park, the NHTSA investigation document said. NHTSA says that even if the game is being played by a passenger and not the driver, it “may distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash.”
While Tesla has bowed down to the pressure this time, this isn’t the end of troubles for the company from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA is currently investigating Tesla for at least 11 accidents involving cars using its Autopilot or other self-driving features. Those 11 accidents were responsible for 17 injuries and one death, as per the agency.
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