U.S. Asks Musk Why Tesla Drivers Play Video Games While Behind The Wheel

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants to know why Tesla lets owners of its cars play solitaire while driving as this policy could lead to fatal accidents on the road, Isobel Asher Hamilton reported for Business Insider.

Photo Insert: A Tesla driver reportedly discovered he was able to play some of the video games that come as playable on Tesla cars' touch screens — including solitaire — while his car was in motion.

The New York Times reported Thursday that a Tesla driver discovered he was able to play some of the video games that come as playable on Tesla cars' touch screens — including solitaire — while his car was in motion.

The NHTSA issued a statement to Bloomberg the same day saying it was looking into the feature.

"We are aware of driver concerns and are discussing the feature with the manufacturer," the NHTSA said.

"The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with design defects posing unreasonable risks to safety," it added. NHTSA also told Bloomberg it recommends vehicle-makers design in-car devices so that they "cannot be used by the driver to perform inherently distracting secondary tasks while driving."

"For all other visual-manual secondary tasks, the NHTSA guidelines specify a test method to evaluate whether a task interferes with driver attention, rendering it unsuitable for a driver to perform while driving," the agency added.

"If a task does not meet the acceptance criteria, the NHTSA Guidelines recommend that the task be made inaccessible for performance by the driver while driving," it told Bloomberg.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic