NHTSA Finds That Tesla's Autopilot Has Reduced Crashes By 40%

As reported earlier today, NHTSA is closing its investigation of the fatal accident on Tesla Autopilot without finding any defect or issuing any recall. We now have access to the full report (embedded below) and there are some interesting key findings about the crash and Tesla’s Autopilot in general.

For example, the agency reviewed data that indicates Tesla’s crash rate was reduced by 40% after the Autopilot’s Autosteer feature was introduced.

Autosteer is the main feature of the Autopilot system and it enables the vehicle to steer itself in certain conditions.

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MDarringer - 1/21/2017 10:39:58 AM

+2 Boost

Agree 100%

TheSteve - 1/20/2017 4:29:15 PM

0 Boost

I'm glad this didn't turn into another Audi/Toyota-unintended-acceleration-style witch hunt.

I'm no Tesla fan (nor a Tesla hater), but to *ME* the facts are clear:

(1) Tesla never claimed their "Autopilot" system is fully autonomous.

(2) The Tesla owner's manual tell you that you, driver, must always be in control of your vehicle.

(3) If a driver decides to ignore #1 and #2, and treat Tesla's "Autopilot" feature as though they had an autonomous car, then bad things might happen, and it's not Tesla's fault the driver made those decisions.

Additionally, we, as "news" consumers, are subjected to an onslaught of bad news. It is not in proportion with the good news. If it were, our news channels would be sending us good news and uneventful stuff for 23 hours 59 minutes and 45 seconds a day. Most of that stuff would be "not news". So instead, we're fed a concentration of The Horrors That Are. And unknowingly, this influences the opinions and beliefs that many of us form. Tesla is evil. "Autopilot" is a killer. Etc.

As I said at the outset, I'm glad this didn't turn into another Audi/Toyota-unintended-acceleration-style witch hunt.

SanJoseDriver - 1/20/2017 8:15:01 PM

-2 Boost

Agree with TheSteve, and this has nothing to do with Obama... give me a break. One item the report fails to mention is that you are not supposed to use Autopilot on freeways where there is cross traffic. RTFM. Nonetheless, Tesla issues a software update late last year that upped the utilization of Radar and can now handle the exact scenario that happened (camera could not see the truck, radar would have).

The 40% crash reduction is a significant improvement that we should all appreciate. Other cars will follow suit and fewer people will die in accidents as a result.

SanJoseDriver - 1/30/2017 10:33:41 PM

+1 Boost

Actually, you are completely wrong Aspy11. No other company has released auto-steering at highway speeds... none. Lane keeping is completely different than auto-steering. Mercedes can do it at slow speeds and in traffic, but there is no other car you can buy today that will give you "Autopilot" at full speed. Tesla has had it for 2 years.

mre30 - 1/20/2017 10:11:49 PM

+5 Boost

Is this "FAKE NEWS" ?

It seems just a little too specific and speculative to have been statistically verified in a scientific manner.

MDarringer - 1/21/2017 10:39:01 AM

+5 Boost

Except when it can't see a semi and decides to slam into it or when a leaf immobilizes the entire system.