Tesla owners are being reminded to keep their eyes on the road after videos of drivers wearing Apple’s virtual reality headsets went viral.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on X (formerly Twitter) that all existing cars require the driver to be engaged “at all times.”
However, one of the drivers admitted that the video was a game.
Tesla and Apple have been contacted for comment.
Videos posted online show people wearing Apple headphones over their eyes in the driver’s seat of autonomous cars.
One was reposted by Pete Buttigieg, who wrote: “Reminder – ALL advanced driver assistance systems available today require a human driver to be in control at all times and fully engaged in the driving task.”
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Another video released on the same day as the Apple Vision Pro was released to the public showed a man wearing the headset in a Tesla being pulled over by police.
However, Gizmodo reports that he said it was a “skit” he did with friends and wrote that he “drove 30-40 seconds with the headset on.”
Apple’s user manual warns against using headphones while driving, while Tesla says drivers should always “remain in control and responsibility of your vehicle,” even in autonomous mode.
The Apple Vision Pro headset went on sale in the US on February 2 with a price tag of $3,499 (£2,749). It has no UK release date.
While users can see through the glass in some modes, this will still severely limit visibility while driving.
The company has tried to avoid calling it virtual reality or any other similar name, calling it “spatial computing” instead.
“Don’t describe your app experience as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (XR), or mixed reality (MR),” he said. blog post targeting developers.