Thoughts from the Driver’s Seat with Mike Nelson

Somebody’s Watching You: Tesla’s In-Cabin Camera

Partner Mike Nelson recently received a notice on his Tesla Model Y about a new over-the-air update that will allow his interior cabin camera to monitor driver engagement. The actual notice appears in the picture to the right.

Tesla announced it would be expanding its driver monitoring systems to include the in-cabin camera last year, so it is not clear why the Model Y was not already equipped with the Cabin Camera update. Still, as Mike notes, it is a positive improvement over Tesla’s prior system that relied exclusively on “hands on the wheel,” and brings Tesla into line with the way other OEMs monitor driver engagement. Adding this second layer of driver monitoring can only help minimize blatant or even inadvertent driver inattention.

And, if you’re curious about what exactly the in-cabin camera is recording, well-known Tesla hacker @greentheonly provided a snapshot of the various “detection modes” in an April 2021 Twitter post—including whether the driver’s eyes are up or closed and whether the driver is using a phone.

Check out all of Mike’s thoughts on this topic, coming to you from the driver’s seat of his Model Y. (Telsa probably checked it out, too, in real time).

Copyright Nelson Niehaus LLC

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Firm, its clients, or any of its or their respective affiliates. This blog post is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.