Sometime after buying a Tesla Model 3 this summer, Vince Patton saw a YouTube video highlighting a feature that surprised him: three video games that can be played on the large screen mounted in front of the car’s dashboard — while driving.
“I thought that certainly couldn’t be true,” said Patton, a retiree who lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
But in a parking lot he tried it out and managed to play solitaire on a moving Model 3. “I only did this for five seconds, and then I hung up,” he said. “I’m surprised. To me it just seems dangerous.”
The automaker added the games in an “over-the-air” software update that shipped for most of its cars this summer. They can be played by the driver or by a passenger within sight of the driver, which raises new questions about whether Tesla is compromising race safety to add new technology and functions to its cars.
“It’s a big concern if it’s played in the driver’s eye, of course,” said Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Association for Road Safety, which coordinates state efforts to promote safe driving.
Tesla’s Autopilot system, which can drive, accelerate and brake a car on its own, has faced criticism from safety experts for years because it allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel for extended periods, even though they shouldn’t. And there’s no effective way to ensure drivers keep an eye on the road.
The combination of hands-free driving and drivers looking away from the road has been linked to at least 12 traffic fatalities since 2016 in Tesla cars operating in Autopilot mode, according to the National Road Traffic Safety Administration. Adkins said the addition of video games “requires the agency to provide guidance and regulation.”
Tesla and its chief executive, Elon Musk, did not respond to several emails asking about the new video games and whether they could threaten security.
Inattentive driving is one of the main causes of the growing number of road traffic deaths in the United States. In the first half of 2021, 20,160 people died in traffic accidents, according to estimates by the Department of Transport. This was 18.4% more than in the first half of 2020, and the highest total since 2006.
Driver inattention is officially cited as the cause of about 10 percent of road traffic deaths, said Steve Kiefer, a senior executive at General Motors who also heads a foundation dedicated to combating careless driving. But he and other safety experts believe the current number is much higher because, they say, accident investigations often overlook distraction while citing other causes, such as careless driving.
“I think the number is closer to 50%,” said Kiefer.
The Kiefer Foundation is dedicated to his son, Mitchel, who was killed at age 18 in 2016 when a distracted driver backed up a highway in Michigan.
Inattentive driving stems from activities that take the driver’s hands off the wheel, take his eyes off the road, or distract him from the task of driving. It’s often linked to using smartphones, like texting while driving, but drivers sometimes read books or apply makeup. Some states prohibit manual use of cell phones while driving. Car manufacturers, Apple and Google have developed car software to make it easy to use voice commands to send text messages and make calls, while keeping your hands free to drive.
Manufacturers have also added mechanisms to reduce the potential distraction of screens on the front seat. Stellantis —formerly Fiat Chrysler— offers an entertainment system that can play DVDs on a front screen, but dims if the car is moved. Many navigation systems do not allow you to manually enter addresses while the car is in motion. Mazda vehicles prohibit most use of the dashboard screen when in motion.
The US Highway Safety Agency (NHTSA) has issued guidelines to manufacturers that any in-vehicle entertainment device must be designed so that the driver cannot use it “to perform secondary tasks that inherently cause distraction while driving.”
Until this summer, the video games in Tesla’s software suite — more than a dozen — could only be played when the car was in “park” mode. This changed when update 2021.12.25.6 was shipped for Tesla vehicles. She added patience; a fighter plane game, Sky Force Reloaded; and The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise, a strategic conquest game. Patton said he had access to the three with his car in “drive” function, and that he filed a complaint with the national security agency via the website.
In a warning that appears before the game starts, Tesla indicates that she is aware that solitaire can be played with the car in motion: “Patience is a game for everyone, but playing it with the car in motion is only for the passengers”. A button asks for confirmation that the player is a passenger, but the driver can simply press the button and play.
In a second YouTube video, another Tesla owner shows that the game can be used while the car is in motion. “This is very dangerous,” said the user. “I’m sure someone will turn on Autopilot and play solitaire. Make a note of that, Tesla.”
Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves
.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
