Tesla has quietly adjusted its driver monitoring system (DMS) in the latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) software update, making it less sensitive to brief glances away from the road.
While not mentioned in the official release notes of FSD v13.2.9 (2025.14.6) for HW4 vehicles, owners have already begun to notice the relaxed monitoring behavior, including Omar (@WholeMarsBlog) on X, who said the system now “seems significantly less annoying.”
The change was then confirmed by Tesla’s VP of Autopilot AI, Ashok Elluswamy, who replied that the update was “much needed.” (via Not A Tesla App)
Was much needed
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) May 16, 2025
Tesla’s cabin camera-based monitoring system has received criticism for being overly strict, issuing warnings or even FSD “strikes” for quick interactions with the touchscreen, such as adjusting navigation, changing a song, or modifying climate settings. These strikes accumulate, and repeated violations can temporarily suspend FSD access for up to a week.
During Tesla’s Q1 2025 earnings call, Musk acknowledged the issue, calling the system too sensitive and that the current implementation often causes users to disengage FSD just to make minor changes, then re-engage it, an approach he described as less safe overall.
Now, with FSD v13.2.9, Tesla has fine-tuned the system to allow more reasonable behaviour. And it sounds like it won’t be the last adjustment to make it less sensitive, as Musk also said on the Q1 2025 call that it will be incrementally adjusted to be less sensitive as FSD Unsupervised gets closer to becoming reality.
“So anyway, but right now, the car is very insistent that you pay attention to the road, which reduces the value somewhat because it’s very rigorous about you paying attention to the road. And we’ll gradually lighten up on that with you know, every few weeks or every month, we’ll relax that a little bit, so you can be able to do things you wanna do and not have the car to manage your attention. So that value, it’ll really be profound when you can basically do whatever you want, including sleep, and then that $99 is gonna seem like the best $99 you’ve ever spent in your life.” Musk said.
The move to make the system less sensitive appears to only be part of software update 2025.14.6 for HW4 vehicles, and reflects the company’s efforts to strike a better balance between safety and practicality in real-world use. Hopefully the change will come to HW3 vehicles in time, but for now those owners will have to wait for a future update to experience the improved, and less sensitive, driver monitoring system.
