Neil E Bodit
The main car safety organization in the federal government has opened an investigation into an advantage in "Tesla" cars that allow drivers to play games on a touch screen in the driving unit during the movement of the car.
"This job referred to as" passenger play "may acted the driver's attention and increases the risk of an accident."
This procedure comes after the New York Times published a report of concern about safety this month.
The investigation by the Safety Agency, part of the Ministry of Transport, is covering about 580,000 cars and four -wheel drive vehicles from 2017 to 2022.
The agency also achieves separately in the potential defects in the automatic pilot system for the electric car company, which can direct, accelerate, and brake the car on its own.
"Upon the opening of this initial evaluation, the commission will evaluate the scenarios in which the driver can interact with the passenger play feature," the agency said.
This investigation does not focus on the automated pilot, but the "National Traffic Safety Administration on Highway Traffic" hinted to possible concerns that drivers can play games while using the advanced driver assistance system and they thought that the car was driving itself.
Tesla guides the drivers to put their hands on the wheel and pay attention to the road while using the automated pilot.
The agency said, "The authority reminds the masses that there are no commercially available cars that can drive itself," the agency said.
"Some advantages of advanced driving assistance can enhance safety by helping drivers to avoid malfunctions and reduce the severity of faults that occur, but as with all the technologies and equipment on cars, drivers must use them properly and responsible," she added.
Safety experts criticized Tesla for not installing effective guarantees in their cars to ensure that drivers kept their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road while using the automated pilot.
The company and its CEO, Elon Musk, were criticized by safety experts for promoting the automated pilot and a more advanced package of services called "full self -driving" as actually self -driving systems.
The company allowed some owners to enter the public roads to test full self -driving, which Tesla said it could not actually drive its cars alone.
The agency said that the video game feature is available since December 2020 in some Tesla cars.The agency added that "before this time, the play was only enabled when the car was on the state of parking," the agency added.
In August, Tesla presented a wireless update to its car programs that added 3 games that can be played while vehicles move, which is the Soliter game, a fighter plane game called "Air Force Power again, Politobia Battle and the Monares Wars Strategy game.
This, and Vince Patton, a retired man living in Lake Osuigo, Oregon, filed a complaint to the safety agency through its website after purchasing a Tesla Model 3 this summer.He said he was able to play Solitaire 3 game while the car was moving.
In a statement to the New York Times, he said, "I am completely stunned.""For me, it seems essentially dangerous," he added.
* Gregory Schmidt shares in preparing the report
Source: New York Times