Driving While Gaming: Why Tesla Had to Switch Off Its Onboard Entertainment Feature
As technology advances, more distractions come into play while driving. One such distraction is the ability to play computer games on the dashboard while driving. Tesla, in particular, had enabled this function in its electric cars for two years, but the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has now convinced the automaker to switch it off.
According to the NHTSA, in one-third of all game usages while driving, there was no passenger on board. Even if only a passenger is playing, the NHTSA still considers the setup unacceptable. Other manufacturers use optical filters or the spatial arrangement of the screens to ensure that drivers are not distracted or turn off a screen when a driver monitoring system detects that the chauffeur is directing their gaze towards it.
Tesla had initially enabled computer games to be played on its dashboard screens only when the car was parked. However, in Christmas 2020, Tesla gave its Tesla 3 and Y cars with Intel Atom processors a software upgrade that allowed various games to be played on the dashboard screen while driving. The company called this “passenger play” and specified whether the player was the driver.
A Tesla owner reported the situation to the NHTSA in November 2021, which led to an investigation into the game function. Although Tesla had not received any consumer complaints and was not aware of any collisions while playing computer games, NHTSA data showed that the gaming feature was used irresponsibly in at least one in three cases.
As a result, Tesla released another update before Christmas 2022, preventing games while driving again. The NHTSA discontinued its initial investigation, but a broader engineering analysis is underway, specifically shedding light on the human factor in relation to Tesla’s displays and controls while driving.
Distractions in the line of sight should be avoided as they increase the risk of an accident. Therefore, while onboard entertainment may be a great feature, it should be limited to passenger play and turned off while driving.
