Vince Patton, a new Tesla owner, demonstrates on Dec. 8, 2021, on a closed course in Portland, Ore., how he can play video games on the vehicle's console while driving. Under pressure from U.S. auto safety regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop allowing video games to be played on center touch screens while its vehicles are moving. Vince Patton, a new Tesla owner, demonstrates on Dec. 8, 2021, on a closed course in Portland, Ore., how he can play video games on the vehicle's console while driving. Under pressure from U.S. auto safety regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop allowing video games to be played on center touch screens while its vehicles are moving. DETROIT -- Under pressure from U.S. auto safety regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop allowing video games to be played on center touch screens while its vehicles are moving.

Under pressure from U.S. auto safety regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop allowing video games to be played on center touch screens while its vehicles are moving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the company will send out a software update over the Internet so the function called "Passenger Play" will be locked and won't work while vehicles are in motion. The move comes one day after the agency announced it would open a formal investigation into distracted driving concerns about Tesla's video games, some of which could be played while cars are being driven. An agency spokeswoman says in a statement Thursday that the change came after regulators discussed concerns about the system with Tesla. The first update went out Wednesday as part of Tesla's holiday software release, and the rest of the vehicles should get it today.

Electric automaker Tesla will update its vehicle software to prevent drivers from playing video games on the console while the car is in motion, US traffic safety regulators said Thursday. "Following the opening of a preliminary evaluation of Tesla's'Passenger Play,' Tesla informed the agency that it is changing the functionality of this feature," a spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement emailed to AFP. "In a new software update, 'Passenger Play' will now be locked and unusable when the vehicle is in motion." The agency had announced it had launched an investigation into some 580,000 Tesla cars after the automaker's decision to allow drivers to play on the entertainment system's touch screen while the vehicle was moving. The affected models are the Model 3, S, X and Y. The option to engage Passenger Play on the main display during driving made drivers susceptible to distraction and raised the risks of an accident, the NHTSA said.

Tesla claims the Model S Plaid is the world's quickest car and that the $129,990 sedan can accelerate to 60 mph in less than two seconds. Under pressure from U.S. auto safety regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop allowing video games to be played on center touch screens while its vehicles are moving. "Passenger Play" allowed video games to be played on front screen with vehicle in motion. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the company will send out a software update over the Internet so the function called "Passenger Play" will be locked and won't work while vehicles are in motion. The move comes one day after the agency announced it would open a formal investigation into distracted driving concerns about Tesla's video games, some of which could be played while cars are being driven.

The US has opened a formal investigation into a report that Tesla vehicles allow people to play video games on a center touch screen while they are driving. The investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 580,000 electric cars and SUVs from model years 2017 through 2022. The action follows a complaint to the agency that Teslas equipped with "gameplay functionality" allow games to be played by the driver while in motion. In a document posted online Wednesday, the agency says the feature, called "Passenger Play," may distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash. The agency's office of defects investigation said in the document that the game capability has been available since December 2020.

A new Tesla owner demonstrates earlier this month on a closed course in Portland, Ore., how he can play video games on the vehicle's console while driving. The U.S. has opened a formal investigation into a report that Tesla vehicles allow people to play video games on a center touch screen while they are driving. A new Tesla owner demonstrates earlier this month on a closed course in Portland, Ore., how he can play video games on the vehicle's console while driving. The U.S. has opened a formal investigation into a report that Tesla vehicles allow people to play video games on a center touch screen while they are driving. ATHENS, Ohio -- The U.S. has opened a formal investigation into the potential for Tesla drivers to play video games on a center touch screen while the vehicle is in motion.