The 29 plus 14 means 43 deaths due to Autopilot.
In total, NHTSA investigated 956 crashes, starting in January 2018 and extending all the way until August 2023. Of those crashes, some of which involved other vehicles striking the Tesla vehicle, 29 people died. There were also 211 crashes in which “the frontal plane of the Tesla struck a vehicle or obstacle in its path.” These crashes, which were often the most severe, resulted in 14 deaths and 49 injuries.
Why so many? The NHTSA cites serious design deficiencies in Tesla when compared to industry safety standards.
“A comparison of Tesla’s design choices to those of L2 peers identified Tesla as an industry outlier in its approach to L2 technology by mismatching a weak driver engagement system with Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities,” the agency said.
Even the brand name “Autopilot” is misleading, NHTSA said, conjuring up the idea that drivers are not in control. While other companies use some version of “assist,” “sense,” or “team,” Tesla’s products lure drivers into thinking they are more capable than they are. California’s attorney general and the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles are both investigating Tesla for misleading branding and marketing.
Not just an outlier, Tesla allegedly is a liar too. Management is suspected of covering up even more deaths.
NHTSA acknowledges that its probe may be incomplete based on “gaps” in Tesla’s telemetry data. That could mean there are many more crashes involving Autopilot and FSD than what NHTSA was able to find.
We may finally be approaching a point of no return for the brand, where it is rightfully banned for intentionally terrible design that poses a dangerous threat.
Lawn darts killed fewer.
Ford Pinto killed fewer.
Enron lied less.
The new report highlights that Tesla remains unique in that its drivers had more than enough time to prevent an accident, yet they alone falsely relied on Autopilot.
We’ve known this since 2016 and I’ve explained it many times before. Elon Musk, since the beginning, rashly promoting Autopilot to the stock market (as something it’s absolutely incapable of delivering) becomes especially dangerous… because he disagrees directly with his own product manual.
This is a toxic form of propaganda; gaslighting 101.
If the manual said drivers have to pay attention, and Musk didn’t say anything, it would be safer.
If Musk said drivers don’t have to pay attention, and the manual didn’t say anything, it would be safer.
The problem is the contradictory combination, destroying truth, which is the very definition of gaslighting.
Because Musk invariably and intentionally contradicts safety statements in the product manual, he willfully creates the most unsafe combination possible.
His believers thus operate in the anti-science realm of beliefs, putting society at risk, just like with any cult following anti-patterns doused in snake oil.
This is not about whether technology can improve safety of humans. That’s not even worth discussing. Vaccines are effective and safe. Don’t let that grain of truth get tainted in the fraud campaign.
This is about a negligently designed technology system that discourages drivers from paying attention, creating a huge rise in accidents that easily could have been avoided if a CEO had not gloated about completely fraudulent concepts of safety.
Is there any reason to continue allowing a proven death trap design that sends dozens of people to early graves? How many communities must mourn these avoidable deaths before roads and homes are free from Tesla?
Related: After proving itself more antisemitic than even Ford, Tesla has been trying to copy Edison’s worst ideas. Expect an “88 hate station” near you.
