A driver cannot watch video: behind the wheel your eyes belong on the road, and no legal system has ever been unsure about that. What the law treats differently is everything else — passengers watching something, and a car that is parked or charging — and those situations remain clearly permitted. In Italy, the road traffic code already restricts moving images on screens visible from the driver's seat, and a draft revision in public consultation until 13 September 2026 proposes adding a specific penalty: it is a draft, not law in force.
1The rule that never changes
The driver must watch the road. Which screen, which app, which country: none of it matters. Behind the wheel, attention belongs to driving, and no revision of the rules, in Italy or anywhere else, has ever questioned that.
Everything else — what may be on, where, and for whom — is just detail built around that principle. Worth remembering when you read about new penalties: they are not creating a prohibition that did not already exist for drivers. They are defining more precisely how to enforce it.
Software cannot know who is looking at a screen. Responsibility for what happens in the driver's seat stays with the person sitting in it, and nothing on this site moves it anywhere else.
2What Italian law says today
Italy's road traffic code already restricts devices that display moving images in a position visible to the driver. No new rule is needed for a film playing in front of the driver's seat to be a problem.
The exceptions are the predictable ones: navigation, information about driving and the vehicle, reversing cameras and driver assistance displays. A film, a live stream or a TV channel falls into none of those categories, however large the car's factory screen happens to be.
We deliberately avoid citing an article number. The text is under revision right now, and a page that ages badly is worse than a page that says less. If you need the exact wording, read the version in force on the day you are reading.
3The draft under consultation: what it proposes
A revision of the code went out for public consultation, open until 13 September 2026, proposing a specific penalty for using devices that play video on screens where the manufacturer's own restrictions have been removed or disabled.
Alongside a fine, the draft proposes deducting points from the licence. We do not quote the amount: in a draft, the numbers are the part most likely to change, and seeing them printed on a commercial website makes them look like law when they are not law yet.
Worth repeating, because it matters more than any other line here: this is a draft. It is not in force. It may be amended, rewritten or dropped. If you are reading after 13 September 2026 the consultation has closed — but closed does not mean adopted. Check where the text actually stands before relying on any of this.
4A useful precedent: Passenger Play
The most instructive case did not happen in Italy. In the United States, NHTSA opened an investigation into "Passenger Play", the feature that let people play games on the centre screen while the car was moving, shipped by Tesla itself.
Tesla subsequently limited the feature to a parked car. What makes the case interesting is that this was an official manufacturer feature, built into the vehicle and delivered by an update: the regulator's attention was not on third-party software, but on the underlying question of what may move on a screen in front of a driver.
The direction of travel is clear enough. Better to take it seriously than to hope nothing changes.
5What is still clearly allowed
Two situations have never been in doubt: passengers watching something, and a car that is parked or charging.
Passengers are passengers. Someone in the seat beside you, or in the back, can watch a film without that touching driving safety at all. The sensible caution is obvious but needs saying: a Tesla's centre screen is also visible from the driver's seat, so the driver must not look at it — and on a long trip a tablet in the back is often still the better answer.
A stationary car is the strongest case of all. A charging stop runs twenty, thirty, forty minutes, and for that time the car's screen is simply a screen, with the brake on and nobody driving.
Then there is audio, usually forgotten in these discussions: radio, music and podcasts are ordinary and lawful on the move. Plenty of people use Roadly for nothing else, and that is a perfectly good way to use it.
6How Roadly behaves
Roadly is a web page you open in the browser the car already has. Nothing is installed, nothing is modified, the vehicle software is never touched, and no manufacturer protection is removed or disabled. Close the tab and nothing about the car has changed.
Video is drawn frame by frame onto a canvas instead of being handed to the browser's standard video player. That is a rendering decision, taken because that path keeps working while the car is moving. It is not an intervention in the car or its settings.
This is why the whole site says "passengers", and not out of editorial politeness: it is the only use of moving-car video worth offering. The stream is capped at 720p on purpose — above that the canvas pipeline and the car's connection stop keeping up, and a stable picture is worth more than a bigger number on a homepage.
If the rules change, we will adapt, even if that means removing a feature. We would rather lose something than tell you the problem does not exist.
7This is not legal advice
None of the above is legal advice. We build software, we are not a law firm, and this page is an honest summary of our understanding, not an opinion to build a defence on.
Rules change, they differ from country to country, and how they are applied in practice depends partly on how an officer reads a situation at the roadside. If a decision with real consequences depends on this, talk to a lawyer or to someone qualified where you live.
One last point: Roadly is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or connected to Tesla, Inc. in any way. Tesla is a trademark of its owner.
8Frequently asked questions
Can I watch a film while I am driving?
No. The driver must keep their eyes on the road, with no exceptions, in any country. Video on the move makes sense only for passengers, or with the car parked or charging.
Can passengers watch video while the car is moving?
Yes — a passenger watching something has never been the issue. Bear in mind that the centre screen is also visible from the driver's seat, so the driver must not look at it, and on long trips a tablet in the back is often the better answer.
Is the new Italian penalty already in force?
No. It is a draft that went to public consultation until 13 September 2026, proposing a fine and licence points. It may be amended or dropped, so check where the text currently stands before relying on it.
Does Roadly modify anything in my car?
No. It is a web page opened in the car's built-in browser: no installation, no change to the vehicle software, no manufacturer protection removed or disabled.
What happens to Roadly if the law changes?
We adapt, even if that means dropping a feature. We wrote this page precisely so we never end up having promised something we cannot keep.
Does this page count as legal advice?
No. It is a summary written by a software developer, not a lawyer. For decisions with real consequences, speak to a qualified professional in your country.