US to probe new safety concern as Tesla drivers allowed to play video games on autopilot

Raising grave concern over safety, a US-based journalist has filed a lawsuit wherein he questioned Tesla's decision to allow playing video games while the vehicle is in motion. Reacting swiftly into the matter, the US has opened a formal investigation into the potential for Tesla drivers to play video games. According to the lawsuit by the journalist, the feature, called “Passenger Play,” may divert the driver and advance the risk of a collision. "To date, the agency has received one owner complaint describing the gameplay functionality and has confirmed that this capability has been available since December 2020 in Tesla “Passenger Play”-equipped vehicles,” an NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) spokesman said. As per the spokesperson, earlier the electric car had offered the drivers to play games while the vehicle was parked.

Here's why the journalist filed a complaint:

As the US has ordered an investigation into the matter, the investigators will probe all four Tesla models, the S, X, Y and 3. The basic aim of the investigators is to check whether the driver gets distracted while using ‘Passenger Play’ while the vehicle is being driven.” "Investigators “will evaluate aspects of the feature, including the frequency and use scenarios of Tesla “Passenger Play," according to the official probing the Tesla cars.  It is worth mentioning that the NHTSA has tested over 5,58,000 cars of Tesla from 2017 to 2021 but none of the vehicles suffered any accidents. While speaking to AP, Tesla owner Vince Patton told he discovered the hazardous feature when he was watching a video of another Tesla owner on YouTube. 

Patton also discovered he could surf the internet

Subsequently, the journalist told he then tried the same protocol as mentioned by the YouTuber and surprisingly Patton found he could play video games while driving his Tesla Model 3. "I was just dumbfounded that, yes, sure enough, this sophisticated video game came up,” said Patton, a 59-year-old retired broadcast journalist who lives near Portland, Oregon. While testing his car features, Patton also discovered he could surf the internet while the vehicle was in motion. Somebody’s going to get killed,” he said. “It’s absolutely insane. So he filed the complaint early last month," he said. "NHTSA needs to prohibit all live video in the front seat and all live interactive web browsing while the car is in motion. Creating a dangerous distraction for the driver is recklessly negligent," said Patton in his complaint.

With inputs from AP

Image: AP