An August video shows a game being played on a Tesla central console while the car is in motion.
When we covered the first video games available on Tesla’s center-console video screen back in 2019, we noted that the feature only worked when the car was parked. Now, though, those Tesla games can apparently be played even when the car is moving, a feature that could run afoul of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration guidelines and state laws designed to combat distracted driving.
While the ability to play Tesla games outside of Park is being highlighted in a New York Times report today, the change was seemingly rolled out months ago. A YouTube video from January shows Solitaire being played on a Tesla screen while the car is shifted into Autopilot mode, for instance (though other games appear not to work with Autopilot in the same video).
In another video posted in July, a Tesla owner shows space shoot-em-up Sky Force Reloaded being played while the car is shifted into drive. That video says the new capability was added as an unannounced feature of July’s 2021.12.25.6 firmware update.
While Tesla also added the ability to stream video services such as Netflix and Hulu on the car’s central console in 2019, those services are still completely disabled when a Tesla is not in park (though some owners have tried to find ways around this limitation). “When full self-driving is approved by regulators, we will enable video while moving,” Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted ahead of that streaming-video rollout.
When it comes to games, though, Tesla’s software now notes the possibility of titles running while the car is moving. “Use of Touch Arcade while the vehicle is in motion is only for passengers,” reads a warning that pops up before a game launches in the second video. Users must confirm that the player is a passenger. “Please check local laws prior to playing,” the warning says.
Laws and regulations
Those “local laws” seem aligned against the idea of having a game visibly running while a car is in motion, even if the driver isn’t the one playing. A 2014 round-up from the Consumer Electronics Association found “video screen restriction” laws on the books in 34 states and the District of Columbia. While the specific laws vary, most regulations are focused on the operation of “television” screens that are visible to the driver while the car is in motion (California’s law more broadly restricts the use of any “video monitor or a video screen or any other similar device that displays a video signal”).
The NHTSA also suggests that showing active gameplay on a Tesla’s central console is likely to be a significant distraction to drivers. The agency’s 2013 “distraction guidelines” (PDF) suggest that “displaying images or video not related to driving” on a monitor visible to the driver will “inherently interfere with a driver’s ability to safely operate the vehicle.”
The NHTSA specifically calls out any display of “video and continuously moving images” and includes “things such as video phone calls and other forms of video communication, as well as prerecorded video footage, and television” as examples of what to disable when a car is in motion.
True, these laws and safety guidelines don’t mention video games on an in-car display specifically. But that’s likely because the concept of playable games on a car’s central console wasn’t even in consideration when the laws were written. Video games are specifically mentioned in a handful of laws targeting cell phone use while driving, however.
“It’s a big concern if it plays in view of the driver, for sure,” Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, told The New York Times about games on a car’s console screen. It’s a problem that “is crying out for NHTSA to provide some guidance and regulation,” he added.
Tesla has come under fire recently for dangerous failures of its “Autopilot” system, including many in which a distracted driver was allegedly not actively monitoring the car as required. Last year, police filed charges against a North Carolina man who was watching a movie on his phone when his Autopilot-enabled car crashed into a police cruiser. And forensic data from a fatal 2018 Tesla crash suggests the driver may have been playing mobile game Three Kingdoms when his Autopilot-driven car crashed into a concrete lane divider.
Listing image by YouTube / Cf Tesla