Distraction is a thing
Now there’s a headline.
Tesla, bowing to pressure, stops allowing drivers to play video games while driving
Great god almighty. As if people don’t already drive insanely enough.
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.
Meaning that currently drivers can play video games while tailgating people going the speed limit in a downpour on a dark winter afternoon. Fabulous.
“The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with defects posing unreasonable risks to safety, including technologies that distract drivers from driving safely,” NHTSA’s statement said.
But haha manufacturers pay no attention because it’s all just so much fun.
Just in case people thought Elon was a sober, responsible type: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4KShsvvtEQ
My new Renault Arkana has a touch screen that lets me do all sorts of stuff while driving, but it doesn’t have games and it will not let me use the GPS while in motion.
“bowing to pressure”
??? What good is the GPS if you’re not in motion?
Well SpaceX is the source of the only stuff I work on that doesn’t kill people so I’m a bit grateful…
iknklast, Sorry, I should have been clearer. I cannot adjust its programming while in motion. Program. Drive. Need to change programming, stop car first.
Can’t hear that without thinking “Program Drive: Safety Device – Relieve!”
It should be clarified that the intention of the games function is that it is for use of the front seat passenger, as the screen is in between the driver and the passenger. But there is nothing preventing the driver from playing games. So now neither the driver nor the front seat passenger can play games on the screen while in motion.
The navigation systems on my cars do restrict some, but not all, adjustments to programming while the car is moving. When driving with my wife, which is most of my time in a car, those adjustments are often performed by the front seat passenger.
Nit: I prefer to reserve the term “GPS” to refer specifically to the positioning system, not the navigation software that uses it. I know a lot of people use “GPS” also to refer to the navigation software, but it still gives me a mental hiccup when I see people talking about “programming the GPS” and similar.
Sackbut: I am with you on the GPS thing, but I’m afraid it’s a lost battle. (And hardly a hill worth dying on.) We’ll just have to live with it, just like “ISBN number” and using “Internet” as a synonym for the web.
As for Elon Musk. he possesses so many contradicting qualities it’s a wonder he does not implode. Obviously very smart, gets amazing things done, yet at the same time he seems totally unhinged. One of the great mysteries of life, I’d say.
I use Android Auto on my car which is nice, because for the GPS I can by voice command, update my travel desires while driving. But, it disables the onscreen keyboard if the car is not in Park. No screen games, but there are games that can be played by voice, such as Trivia games.
I have mixed feelings about Musk, too. Sometimes I think that privately own companies should have independent boards as much as publicly traded ones do, just to place the occasional check on excesses.
And, he built Tesla with the aid of the infrastructure of California, but now is moving to Texas to save on taxes and take advantage of reduced regulations. I wonder if he’ll have enough battery power when the transformers freeze the next time.