Update: According to the Associated Press, Tesla will issue a software update effectively rolling back the Passenger Play feature on its vehicles. This will require the vehicle to be fully stopped before any games can be played on the infotainment screen.
For the second time this year, Tesla is a company of interest with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This time, officials are taking a close look at the Passenger Play feature that's available in over half a million Tesla vehicles. Fun video games playable in Tesla infotainment systems are nothing new, but Passenger Play can be activated while the car is moving. You probably see where this is going.
The feature was added last year according to an NHTSA report, and is presently available on 580,000 Tesla vehicles going back to 2017. All current models are included in the investigation, which will determine whether or not playing video games while driving presents a distraction to the driver. That sounds like the biggest no-brainer of the century, but it's important to note that the NHTSA report doesn't mention anything about drivers playing games. Since the system is called Passenger Play, presumably the passenger is having all the fun. But could that alone be a distraction to the driver?
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