ATHENS, Ohio \u2014 The U.S. has opened a formal investigation into the potential for Tesla drivers to play video games on a center touch \u2026<\/b>
\nATHENS, Ohio \u2014 The U.S. has opened a formal investigation into the potential for Tesla drivers to play video games on a center touch screen while the vehicle is in motion. In a document posted Wednesday on its website, the agency says the feature, called \u00ab\u00a0Passenger Play,\u00a0\u00bb may distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash. \u00ab\u00a0To 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 \u00ab\u00a0Passenger Play\u00a0\u00bb-equipped vehicles,\u00a0\u00bb a NHTSA spokesman said in an email. \u00ab\u00a0Before this time, enabling gameplay was only possible when the vehicle was in park.\u00a0\u00bb The probe, which covers all four Tesla models, the S, X, Y and 3, was opened \u00ab\u00a0to evaluate the driver distraction potential of Tesla ‘Passenger Play’ while the vehicle is being driven.\u00a0\u00bb Investigators \u00ab\u00a0will evaluate aspects of the feature, including the frequency and use scenarios of Tesla \u00ab\u00a0Passenger Play.\u00a0\u00bb‘ The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 580,000 electric cars and SUVs from model years 2017 through 2022. The NHTSA documents do not list any crashes or injuries caused by the problem. An investigation can lead to a recall. A message was left early Wednesday seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations department. Tesla owner Vince Patton, who lives near Portland, Oregon, filed the complaint with the agency last month. In August, he was watching a YouTube video of a Tesla owner who discovered that he could now play a video game on his touch-screen while the vehicle is moving. Curious to see for himself, Patton drove his own 2021 Tesla Model 3 to an empty community college parking lot, activated a game called \u00ab\u00a0Sky Force Reloaded\u00a0\u00bb from a menu and did a few loops. \u00ab\u00a0I was just dumbfounded that, yes, sure enough, this sophisticated video game came up,\u00a0\u00bb said Patton, a 59-year-old retired broadcast journalist who lives near Portland, Oregon. He tried Solitaire, too, and was able to activate that game while driving. Later, he found he could browse the internet while his car was moving. Patton, who loves his car and says he has nothing against Tesla, worries that drivers will play games and become dangerously distracted. \u00ab\u00a0Somebody’s going to get killed,\u00a0\u00bb he said. \u00ab\u00a0It’s absolutely insane.\u00a0\u00bb So he filed the complaint early last month. \u00ab\u00a0NHTSA needs to prohibit all live video in the front seat and all live interactive web browsing while the car is in motion,\u00a0\u00bb Patton wrote in his complaint. \u00ab\u00a0Creating a dangerous distraction for the driver is recklessly negligent.\u00a0\u00bb Earlier in December, Mercedes-Benz issued a recall for a similar issue caused by a computer configuration error, raising questions about whether Tesla was being allowed to do something that other automakers are not. Most automakers disable front touch screens while vehicles are moving. In the Mercedes case, drivers could browse the internet or watch television while the cars were moving. The automaker said it intended to disable the features while the cars are in motion. The issue was corrected by updating a Mercedes server. NHTSA already is investigating why Tesla’s \u00ab\u00a0Autopilot\u00a0\u00bb partially automated driving system keeps crashing into stopped emergency vehicles, and it has inquired about why Tesla didn’t file recall documents when it did an over-the-air internet update in an effort to address the safety problem. It’s also looking into the performance of Tesla’s \u00ab\u00a0Full Self-Driving\u00a0\u00bb software after getting a complaint that it nearly caused a crash. Tesla says neither system can drive vehicles and that drivers must be ready to intervene at all times.<\/p>\n