Tesla And Mercedes To Discontinue Touchscreen Video Games In Moving Cars

Distracted driving has been a top priority for U.S. safety regulators for years, even as cars become more connected and in-cabin screens multiply and grow larger.

What’s important to understand is that this screen was designed so that from the driver’s seat, you can’t see a single lit-up pixel.

Some video games can currently be played on the main touchscreen of Tesla and Mercedes vehicles while the vehicle is in motion. However, the reactions of the companies show a world of difference.

Mercedes claims it made a mistake by allowing the in-motion games, which occur in only a few hundred vehicles, and has issued a voluntary recall to correct the issue.

Tesla, which enabled the moving games via an over-the-air update this summer, has not taken any public steps to address the issue, but the NHTSA has stated that it is aware of the situation.

Mercedes recalled four models—the 2021 S580 and the 2022 EQS450, EQS 580, and S500—after discovering that some of the vehicles on the road had been programmed with an “incorrect configuration” on Mercedes-back-end Benz’s server and possibly on the MBUX infotainment system.

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The flaw enables “vehicle occupants to activate those functions [including TV and digital owner’s manual, as well as the games] while the vehicle is driving.”

The issue affects only 227 vehicles, but Mercedes issued the recall because “if an occupant were to actively select the function or application while the vehicle is driving, then driver distraction may result, potentially increasing the risk of a crash,” according to the company’s statement to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

According to The Hill, no crashes or accidents have been reported since the problem was discovered in mid-November, and Mercedes has since updated its network server to fix the problem.

Tesla, on the other hand, has long permitted video games to be played in some of its vehicles. That’s fine when the car is parked, but this summer, an over-the-air software update enabled three video games to be played while the car was moving. Tesla’s Autopilot system, which is not fully self-driving, lacks the driver-monitoring capability to tell Tesla whether the front-seat passenger or the driver is engaging in those games.

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