“Following the opening of Tesla’s preliminary evaluation of ‘Passenger Play’, Tesla notified the agency that it is changing the functionality of this feature,” a spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement late Thursday. “In a new software update, ‘Passenger Play’ will now be locked and unusable when the vehicle is in motion.”
Documents from the investigation revealed by the NHTSA on Wednesday said the feature, known as “Passenger Play,” has been available to drivers from December 2020. Games appear on the large touchscreen in the center of the dashboard. Although the name suggests it is intended to be played by passengers, according to the document attached to the investigation, nothing prevents drivers from playing while driving.
The NHTSA investigation document states that prior to December 2020, gameplay was enabled only when the vehicle was in park. Even if the game is being played by a passenger and not the driver, it “could distract the driver and increase the risk of an accident,” according to the NHTSA.
The agency’s investigation generated widespread media coverage Thursday ahead of Tesla’s agreement to change the game’s setting.
“NHTSA continually assesses how manufacturers identify and protect against disturbance hazards arising as a result of defects, misuse or intended use of facility technologies, including infotainment screens,” the agency said.
Tesla is pushing the envelope in providing driver assistance features that allow their cars to slow down, speed up and even change lanes without the active participation of the driver.
The investigation into Passenger Play began in November following a complaint from an unidentified Tesla owner. The complaint states that this feature allows playing video games and browsing the web while driving the car.
“Video games are reportedly restricted to passengers only. Web browsing is available to anyone at any time,” the complaint said. “Why is a manufacturer allowed to make an inherently distracting live video that takes up more than 2/3 of the screen, relying on the driver for all vehicle information? NHTSA requires all live video in the front seat and All live interactive web browsing needs to be banned. The car is in motion. It is negligent to create dangerous distraction for the driver.”
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