Photo: Infinite Games
On December 23, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) announced that Tesla would stop allowing people to play video games while cars are in motion. Yet, its PE (preliminary evaluation) would still be active. White hat hacker GreenTheOnly may have given us a reason why: it seems Tesla only added another safeguard to Passenger Play for it to work as usual.
According to the hacker, the OTA update code brings this message: “Adjust the passenger seat controls to verify you are a passenger.” Since GreenTheOnly only analyzed the code and he has a Tesla Model X with MCUv2, he could not verify how this message pops up or under which circumstances.
Despite that, the way Passenger Play works may answer these questions. When anyone (including the driver) selects any video game, the following message emerges: “Use of Tesla Arcade while the vehicle is in motion is only for passengers. Please check local laws prior to playing.” Below that message, a button saying “I AM A PASSENGER” appears. All you had to do to play until very recently was click this button.
The message GreenTheOnly found is written in a fashion that gives us the impression that it pops up after anyone clicks the “I AM A PASSENGER” button. Why would anyone have to adjust passenger seat controls to verify they are passengers if not in this situation?
If that is really the case, Tesla will not have solved the issue with its latest update. It will just make it slightly more challenging to access Passenger Play. As the AV safety expert Philip Koopman replied to GreenTheOnly, the screen with video games playing would still be in drivers’ line of sight, contributing to distracted driving.
Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover offered a solution for that issue years ago: dual-view screens. While the driver sees a map or anything else, the front passenger can watch a movie or see anything else on the same screen. We're not sure an agitated passenger playing video games would not be enough distraction right beside any driver. However, the fact that the driver can’t see the same things would certainly help.
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners are the only ones who can confirm if video games are really gone while the car is in motion or if Tesla just added another step to get them going as they did since December 2020. Whenever we hear about that, we’ll let you know.
Despite that, the way Passenger Play works may answer these questions. When anyone (including the driver) selects any video game, the following message emerges: “Use of Tesla Arcade while the vehicle is in motion is only for passengers. Please check local laws prior to playing.” Below that message, a button saying “I AM A PASSENGER” appears. All you had to do to play until very recently was click this button.
The message GreenTheOnly found is written in a fashion that gives us the impression that it pops up after anyone clicks the “I AM A PASSENGER” button. Why would anyone have to adjust passenger seat controls to verify they are passengers if not in this situation?
If that is really the case, Tesla will not have solved the issue with its latest update. It will just make it slightly more challenging to access Passenger Play. As the AV safety expert Philip Koopman replied to GreenTheOnly, the screen with video games playing would still be in drivers’ line of sight, contributing to distracted driving.
Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover offered a solution for that issue years ago: dual-view screens. While the driver sees a map or anything else, the front passenger can watch a movie or see anything else on the same screen. We're not sure an agitated passenger playing video games would not be enough distraction right beside any driver. However, the fact that the driver can’t see the same things would certainly help.
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners are the only ones who can confirm if video games are really gone while the car is in motion or if Tesla just added another step to get them going as they did since December 2020. Whenever we hear about that, we’ll let you know.
Still a distraction issue if game playing is in line of sight of driver while passenger is playing. And still likely illegal in most states. Does it turn off while in motion as Tesla promised?
— Phil Koopman ???????????? (@PhilKoopman) December 24, 2021
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