WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S auto security regulators on Tuesday stated they’ve sought extra information from Tesla Inc in its probe into 580,000 autos over the automaker’s choice to permit video games to be performed by passengers on the entrance heart touchscreen.
In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a preliminary analysis into 2017-2022 Tesla Model 3, S, X, and Y autos over the car’s “Passenger Play” characteristic the company stated “could distract the driving force and enhance the danger of a crash.”
NHTSA desires information of any crash studies tied to the characteristic and for Tesla to furnish a chronology of occasions and research supporting its danger evaluation “in employment of entrance seat non-driving associated duties from in-vehicle based mostly units even when the duty is meant just for entrance seat passenger.”
Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark
NHTSA stated in December it has “confirmed that this functionality has been obtainable since December 2020 in Tesla ‘Passenger Play’-equipped autos.” Before then, the game characteristic “was enabled solely when the car was in park.”
On Dec. 23, Tesla advised NHTSA it could cease permitting video video games to be performed on car screens whereas its vehicles are shifting, the company stated.
Tesla knowledgeable NHTSA a software program replace will lock the “Passenger Play” characteristic and make it unusable when the car is in movement, NHTSA stated.
NHTSA requested Tesla to reply questions by March 4 together with offering “journey counts wherein game use occurred whereas the shift indicator was in drive” and embrace utilization the place car sensors didn’t detect an occupant within the entrance passenger seat. It additionally desires information the place “gameplay was concurrent with any driver intervention measures or energetic security measures.”
The company in August opened a security investigation into 765,000 Tesla autos over its driver-assistance system Autopilot after a sequence of crashes involving the system and parked emergency autos.
A preliminary analysis is a primary step earlier than NHTSA decides whether or not to improve a probe to an engineering evaluation, which should occur earlier than the company can demand a recall.
On Nov. 29, Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz recalled 227 U.S. autos as a result of the car infotainment programs “would possibly permit activation of the tv and web show whereas driving, inflicting a distraction for the driving force.”
In 2013, NHTSA issued tips to encourage automakers “to issue security and driver distraction-prevention into their designs and adoption of infotainment units in autos.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bernard Orr)
