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You can play video games on your dash while you’re driving your Tesla

The feature is facing heavy criticism

Photo by: Tesla @Tesla
December 8, 2021
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You can play video games on your touch screen on the dash, the New York Times reported Tuesday. After buying a Tesla Model 3 this summer, Vince Patton saw a YouTube clip highlighting a feature that took him by surprise. He saw three video games that could be played while driving, on the large touch screen on the front of the dashboard.

According to data from Transport Canada’s National Collision Database, distracted driving contributes to an estimated 21 percent of fatal collisions and 27 per cent of serious injury collisions. Those stats are part of an increasing trend of distracted driving-related collisions, going up from 16 per cent of fatal collisions and 22 per cent of serious injury collisions a decade earlier.

Patton couldn’t believe that it was possible to actually play games when driving his car. So he decided to try it out. “I only did it for  five seconds and then turned it off,” he said. “I’m astonished. To me, it just seems inherently dangerous.”

Dr. Marco te Brömmelstroet, Professor at the University of Amsterdam at the Urban Cycling Institute, was quick to point out the hypocrisy about the dangers of distracted driving, when it comes to vulnerable road users like bike riders.  Cyclists are often told to keep on guard for motorists,  in order not to be the victim of a collision. “Please cyclists, make sure to have lights, wear hi-viz, be seen, make eye contact,” He said in a tweet. “Don’t be distracted, look out and be on guard.”

Since distracted driving is always caused by a driver’s hands being removed from where they should be, on the steering wheel, a video game on the dash seems even more dangerous than other common examples, such as texting, putting on make-up, eating or emailing.

Although most provinces and states now ban hand-held usages of phones, in favour of hands-free, speaker or voice-to-text, it’s still a common sight on many busy roads and enforcement is not as high as many would wish.