Tesla has released new data highlighting the safety of its controversial autopilot technology. However, the facts behind this data are not as clear as what the company presents. Let’s take a look at the details together.
Tesla autopilot accident statistics
Tesla says it records a crash every 7.63 million miles (12.27 million km) for U.S. drivers who have the autopilot feature enabled. For drivers who do not use autopilot, this rate is reported as one accident every 955,000 miles (1,536,923 km).
By comparing this data with general data from US auto safety regulators, the company claimed that cars with autopilot feature are 11 times safer than other vehicles.
However, the autopilot feature is generally used on US highways. However, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) covers all roads. Accidents occur more frequently on urban roads and undivided roads. Additionally, NHTSA’s data includes all vehicles; This includes trucks, buses and vintage cars. Therefore, Tesla’s claim does not offer a clear comparison.
Tesla began publishing vehicle safety reports in 2018, and these reports were used to demonstrate the safety of its autopilot technology. However, the company stopped disclosing this data after the last quarter of 2022 and published its first quarter 2024 report this week.
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Tesla also faced many lawsuits and federal investigations while defending its autopilot technology. In 2016, the first autopilot-related death occurred when Ohio man Joshua Brown crashed into a truck in Florida. After this accident, updates were made to the software.
Many more accidents occurred in the future, and some led to lawsuits. Last October, Tesla won the first US jury trial in an autopilot crash. But the company has at least a dozen other lawsuits in the United States. Last month, Tesla also won a lawsuit involving an Apple engineer who crashed into a barrier while Autopilot was active.
According to NHTSA, there have been more than 200 crashes and 29 deaths associated with autopilot. The agency has initiated more than 50 special crash investigations involving Tesla vehicles. Last month, NHTSA, which closed an investigation that had been going on for years, opened a new investigation. In December, concerns were identified regarding Tesla’s recall of more than 2 million electric vehicles, which included nearly all of its vehicles in the US.