Electric carmaker Tesla Inc will quit permitting video games to be played on vehicle screens while its vehicles are moving, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.
The move follows a announcement by the NHTSA on Wednesday that it had opened a proper safety investigation on 580,000 Tesla vehicles offered beginning around 2017 over the automaker’s choice to permit games to be played on the front center touchscreen while they are in motion.
This usefulness, alluded to as “Passenger Play,” may divert the driver and increment the danger of an accident, the NHTSA has said.
Tesla has informed the NHTSA that a product update will lock the “Passenger Play” component and make it unusable when the vehicle is moving, a representative for the office said in an assertion.
“The NHTSA constantly assesses how manufacturers identify and safeguard against distraction hazards that may arise due to faults, misuse, or intended use of convenience technologies, including infotainment screens,” the agency said.
Tesla didn’t quickly react to a media demand for input.
Safety advocates have raised worries that drivers may not focus out and about, particularly when Tesla vehicles are working in semi-independent mode known as Autopilot.
A driver’s interruption – probable from a phone game application – was one of the reasons for a lethal accident of a Tesla vehicle working in Autopilot in California in 2018, as indicated by a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NHTSA in August opened a safety investigation on 765,000 Tesla vehicles over its Autopilot framework later a progression of accidents including the system and parked emergency vehicles.