Tesla owners told not to drive with Apple headsets

Tesla owners have been reminded to keep their eyes on the road after videos of drivers wearing Apple’s virtual reality headset have gone viral.

US Secretary for Transport Pete Buttigieg posted on X (formerly Twitter) to say that all current vehicles require the driver to be engaged “at all times”.

However, one driver admitted his video was a prank.

Tesla and Apple have been contacted for comment.

Videos posted online show people in the drivers seats of cars which have an autonomous mode, while wearing the Apple headset over their eyes.

One was reposted by Pete Buttigieg, who wrote: “Reminder – ALL advanced driver assistance systems available today require the human driver to be in control and fully engaged in the driving task at all times.”

Another video, posted on the day the Apple Vision Pro became publicly available, showed a man appearing to get pulled over by the police while wearing the headset in a Tesla.

However, Gizmodo reports that he said it was a “skit” he made with friends, reporting that he “drove with the headset for 30-40 seconds”.

Apple’s user guide warns against using its headset while driving, while Tesla says drivers should always “maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle,” even when it is in autonomous mode.

The Apple Vision Pro headset went on sale in the US on 2 February with a $3,499 (£2,749) price tag. There is no release date for it in the UK.

While users can see through the glass in some modes, it would still severely restrict vision while driving.

The company has tried to stay clear of calling it virtual reality or any other similar name, instead referring to it as “spatial computing”.

“Don’t describe your app experience as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR), or mixed reality (MR),” it said in a blog post targeting developers.

Videos have been posted online of people wearing the headset on the New York subway and at the gym.