US opens investigation involving 580,000 Tesla cars for inclusion of game on the panel

US auto safety regulators said on Wednesday (22) they had opened a formal investigation into 580,000 Tesla vehicles sold since 2017 over the automaker’s decision to allow video games to be played on the car’s center dashboard.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said its preliminary assessment involves Tesla Model 3, S, X and Y vehicles from 2017 to 2022. This functionality, known as “Passenger Play,” “can ​​Distract the driver and increase the risk of accidents,” the agency said.

NHTSA said it “has confirmed that this functionality has been available since December 2020 on vehicles equipped with Tesla ‘Passenger Play'”. Prior to that, the feature “was enabled only when the vehicle was parked”.

Tesla did not comment on the matter.

The New York Times said Tesla’s update added three games — Solitaire, one for planes and one for strategy — and said the vehicles display warnings with the message: “Playing while the car is in motion is for passengers only.”

The newspaper said the game asks for confirmation that the player is a passenger, although the driver can still play by pressing a button.

A preliminary assessment is the first step before the NHTSA decides to conduct an engineering review, which must happen before the agency can require a recall.

The agency said it received a complaint in November about the game. The complaint came from a Model 3 driver in Oregon, who said, “Creating a dangerous driver’s distraction is reckless negligence.”

On November 29, Mercedes-Benz recalled 227 vehicles in the United States because the car’s entertainment systems “could allow screen and internet activation while driving, causing distraction for the driver.”