The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is ending its investigation into Tesla’s “Passenger Play” feature launched in late 2021 that affected 580,000 vehicles, but it will keep an eye on the technology.
Tesla won’t have to recall its vehicles after the federal government ends an investigation into the company’s ‘Passenger Play’ feature, which allowed games to be played on the infotainment screen while the vehicle was in motion.
The US National Highway Safety Administration launched the investigation in late 2021 after finding that video games could be viewed and played on the central screen even when the vehicle was in motion. The survey covered more than 580,000 Tesla vehicles. As a reminder, Model X and S drivers can play games from the Steam platform, while Model 3 and Y drivers have to make do with a “Tesla Arcade” platform with a limited number of titles.
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Eighteen months later, the NHTSA announced that it was terminating the investigation and that it would not require the recall of the 580,000 Tesla vehicles affected by the problem. However, she clarified that this decision should not be taken as an indication that no safety-related defect exists. “Furthermore, this does not preclude the agency from taking other action, if warranted,” she added.
Tesla claims a 97% completion rate for its “over-the-air” patch. In addition, the company claims to have never received an official complaint or recorded an accident related to the use of the Passenger Play. NHTSA data backs up that claim, but the agency says it will continue to monitor the technology.
In its response to NHTSA, Tesla said it only recorded a “small portion” of instances where the “Passenger Play” feature was active while the vehicle was in motion. Of those cases, “about a third” turned out to be video games with no one in the passenger seat, meaning that the driver was potentially interacting with the function.
Since the update to remove Passenger Play has been rolled out, Tesla Arcade games can be played by the driver or passenger, but only when the car is in park.
