Much like there is no rule saying a dog can’t play basketball, there’s no law saying a steering wheel has to be round in the UK. And that’s good news for Tesla because this Air Bud law, which argues that something is legal as long as it is not explicitly illegal, means the Model S and Model X can be sold in the UK with the recently introduced U-shaped steering wheel.
Although Tesla will offer the Model S and X with a normal, round steering wheel, the legality of its steering yoke that appeared in official photography quickly came into question. The wheel, for all its novelty, seems to be impractical, which tends not to be something you want to do with the vehicle’s main input system.
Road & Track asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration whether or not the yoke was legal and they didn’t really seem to have an answer.
“At this time, NHTSA cannot determine if the steering wheel meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,” the agency said. “We will be reaching out to the automaker for more information.”
Now, Driving.co.uk have asked The Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency the same question and were referred to the Vehicle Certification Agency. They, in turned, referred them to the Department for Transport – and they finally got an answer: “The regulations relating to steering equipment (UN-ECE Regulation 79) does not stipulate any shape or size of the steering wheel.”
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Which means that, in the UK at least, the U-shaped steering wheel is not illegal. The Dutch also appear to be cool with the yoke. Speaking to RTL News, the Netherlands’ automotive approval body, RDW, said it had no issues with it.
“The legislation deliberately talks about steering control instead of steering wheel. There is deliberately left room for alternative forms,” RDW wrote.
The UK’s Department for Transportation did point out, though, that there could be something illegal about the Model S.
The ravamped Teslas’ infotainment screen reportedly has as much processing power as an X-box Series X and could therefore play any of the games it does. Which is great news – just as long as you’re not driving.
“By law, drivers can only use screens when viewing driving information related to the state of the vehicle or its equipment, when navigation is displayed, or when assisting in viewing the road around the vehicle,” a spokesperson told Driving. “Under the Road Vehicles (Constriction and Use) regulations, screens used for anything else should not be visible to the driver while the vehicle is being driven.”
To be fair, Tesla seems to be suggesting that only the rear screen would be used for gaming. Now let’s just hope that owners don’t engage Autopilot and jump to the back seat in order to play their favorite game.
