Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software, FSD v14.2.1, may let drivers text in some situations while the system controls the car.
At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in early November, Musk said the company would study safety data and then move toward allowing drivers to text while FSD is active. He added:
“I am confident that, within the next month or two, we’re gonna look at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive.”
Soon after, an X user, @Teslaconomics, asked publicly if FSD v14.2.1 already allowed texting, noting they had been on their phone for a long stretch with the system running. Musk replied: “Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes.”
That reply signaled that FSD’s attention monitoring is now more forgiving in some driving conditions.
Tesla vehicles use a cabin-facing camera to watch the driver’s face and eyes. If the system thinks the driver is not watching the road for too long, it issues visual and audio warnings that tell the driver to pay attention. After repeated warnings, Tesla can log “strikes.” Once a driver reaches a set number of strikes, FSD and Autopilot can be disabled for a period.
Earlier builds often warned drivers after only a short look at a phone. Many owners now report that on FSD v14.2.1 they can look at their phones longer in certain conditions before any warning appears.
What seems different in FSD v14.2.1
Tesla has not released a detailed public breakdown of how FSD v14.2.1 decides when phone use is acceptable. Musk’s only clear comment is that texting is allowed “depending on context of surrounding traffic.” So, the software weighs risk based on what it sees around the car.
Owners and testers say the system appears more tolerant in low-traffic or otherwise simple driving situations. In these cases, drivers report longer periods on their phones without any alerts. In denser or faster traffic, FSD still appears to warn drivers if their attention drifts for too long. Some independent tests describe being able to look at a phone several times for a few seconds in lighter conditions without a prompt, then triggering an alert only after more sustained distraction in heavier traffic.
This behavior implies Tesla is leaning on its perception stack and neural networks to judge when it can safely relax in-cabin monitoring a bit. At the same time, the company has not shared any firm rules or thresholds. Drivers, therefore, have no clear official list of scenarios where texting would be tolerated or blocked.
Legal status
Texting with FSD active does not change the legal status of the driver. Under U.S. law, a Level 2 system does not replace the driver. The person in the seat behind the wheel remains the operator in the eyes of traffic codes.
Almost every U.S. state bans texting while driving, and many states restrict or ban handheld phone use entirely when the vehicle is moving. Some states even treat simply holding a phone during motion as a violation. These laws do not carve out exceptions for cars using driver-assistance systems.
However, Musk has argued in the past that many drivers already reach for their phones, sometimes disabling FSD to text and then turning it back on. From his perspective, allowing some supervised phone use while FSD is active could be safer than drivers juggling manual control and texting. In that view, a car that keeps its lane and speed might offer a safety margin while the driver glances down.
FSD v14’s newer software stack is built to handle more complex driving tasks, so Tesla may feel confident that the system can cover for brief gaps in driver attention during low-risk segments.
For Tesla owners, the practical takeaway is simple. FSD v14.2.1 may allow longer phone use in some situations, and Musk has publicly endorsed that behavior within limits. But FSD stays a supervised Level 2 feature, and drivers remain on the hook for everything that happens on the road.
Texting while driving is almost always against the law in the United States, regardless of what the software allows. However, a driver caught texting can still be cited, and a driver involved in a crash can still face serious legal consequences.
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