US probes gaming feature in 580,000 Tesla vehicles

US auto safety regulators on Wednesday said they were officially investigating the safety of a feature on Tesla vehicles that potentially allows drivers to play video games on a touch screen while the vehicles are moving.  

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the probe covers about 580,000 Tesla vehicles sold since 2017.

"Passenger Play may distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash," the agency said.

Passenger Play available since last year

The agency said Passenger Play had been available since December 2020.

Before that, the games could only be played while the Tesla vehicles were parked. 

The game feature asks for confirmation that the player is a passenger, though a driver could still play by pressing a button.

A Tesla driver from Oregon, Vince Patton, filed a complaint to the NHTSA last month about the feature, which he has previously called "insane." 

"Creating a dangerous distraction for the driver is recklessly negligent," he wrote in his complaint. 

NHTSA documents do not list any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.

Early in December, the agency warned that distracted driving is the cause of a significant number of road deaths in the US, including 3,142 in 2019 alone.

Tesla also investigated for Autopilot system

In August the agency started an investigation into Tesla's driver-assistance system, Autopilot,' after several collisions with parked emergency vehicles were reported.

The system can steer, stop and accelerate the car on its own.

In the 11 cases that the NHTSA is looking at, one person was killed and 17 people were injured.

The latest investigation could lead to a recall.

Earlier in December, Mercedes-Benz issued a recall for a similar issue. 

Drivers could browse the internet or watch television while the cars were moving.

The automaker has now updated the software to disable the features while the cars are in motion.

lo/wd (AP, Reuters)