Tesla with Autopilot has nearly 10 times lower accident rate compared to normal cars in the US – Elon Musk

Tesla with Autopilot has nearly 10 times lower accident rate compared to normal cars in the US – Elon Musk

Tesla’s self-driving Autopilot feature has come under heavy scrutiny over the past few years, especially following increasing reports of crashes (some fatal) while the system is engaged. The situation seems to have improved, if the latest data released by the automaker is to be believed.

In the first quarter of 2021, Tesla registered one accident for every 4.19 million miles driven (6.74 million kilometres) in which drivers had Autopilot engaged. This increases to one accident for every 2.05 miles driven (3.3 million km) when Autopilot is not engaged, but with other advanced active safety features in play.

For those driving without Autopilot and without Tesla’s active safety features, there is one accident recorded for every 978,000 miles driven (1.57 million km). By comparison, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s most recent data shows that, in the United States, there is an automobile crash every 484,000 miles (778,922 km) on average.

Tesla with Autopilot has nearly 10 times lower accident rate compared to normal cars in the US – Elon Musk

Taking to Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said: “Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle.” While this may be good news, note that statistics such as this can be quite varied.

In Q1 2020, Tesla registered one accident for every 4.68 million miles driven (7.53 million km) with Autopilot activated, which is a far better statistic than all the ensuing quarters since.

Meanwhile, in October last year, Tesla’s Autopilot system in the Model 3 was ranked sixth out of 10 by Euro NCAP. The assessment found that the Model 3 performed poorly in the field of driver engagement, because the Tesla’s steering strategy gave a more “binary impression” that either the car is driving itself or the driver has full control of the vehicle.

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Matthew H Tong

An ardent believer that fun cars need not be fast and fast cars may not always be fun. Matt advocates the purity and simplicity of manually swapping cogs while coping in silence of its impending doom. Matt's not hot. Never hot.

 

Comments

  • Kariayam on Apr 21, 2021 at 12:29 pm

    Ah yes, Tesla and their worthless statistics, Tesla’s autopilot is designed to disengage moments before an impact, so regardless of how flawed their system is, it would always look positive, plus they needed a way to put the blame on the driver for any future lawsuits.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 1
  • Safety First on Apr 21, 2021 at 1:23 pm

    Syabas Tesla! Tahniah brader Elon Musk kita jaga kita

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
  • Celup King on Apr 21, 2021 at 3:08 pm

    Tesla also have 10 times less cars on those road compared to the largest seller in Murica. So?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • Coming from the mouth of the brand owner. The only thing that is confirmed to be legit is my doubt.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • Tesla logic on Apr 21, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    Look! We are comparing statistic from an old horse driven wagon with our brand new “Autopilot” Tesla. Look how bad they are and how good we are.

    They should compare to other modern car with active safety without the moniker of “Autopilot” and see how that data look. I don’t remember reading news of Volvo driver sitting at the back while their car drives themselves in “Autopilot”.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • alive & kicking on Apr 21, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    What about accidents that involve at least 1 fatality?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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