Tesla finds an interesting way around NHTSA's ban on Passenger Play

We reported recently that Tesla buckled to NHTSA pressure to block Passenger Play, Tesla’s feature which allows passengers to play games on Tesla’s infotainment screen while the car is driving.

Before the ban, players simply needed to press an “I am a passenger” button to get access to the feature, which is obviously far from secure.

We understood Tesla was going to disable to feature completely with their holiday update, but it seems Tesla, who is famously defiant, has found a way around the restriction.

Look like no more pretending you are a passenger to play games while driving. The car will now ask you "Adjust the passenger seat controls to verify you are a passenger."

Suddenly that passenger lumbar control becomes super used I guess?

— green (@greentheonly) December 24, 2021

Famous Tesla hacker Green found that to enable the feature users will now simply need to adjust the passenger seat to verify that they are indeed a passenger.

The solution is pretty good, since it would be very difficult for a driver to reach the seat controls on the passenger side.

Hopefully, the NHTSA will be satisfied by this, but something tells me the agency will not be so easy placated.

via DriveTeslaCanada