Tesla Tops Fatal Accident Rates In New Study

Engineering breakthroughs and improved chassis designs have made cars structurally safer than ever. Cars nowadays come loaded with standard safety features like multiple airbags, advanced cameras and sensors that can monitor surroundings and step in during emergencies.

However, a new report highlights a troubling trend: rising levels of distracted driving undermine these safety gains and Tesla appears to be the most affected.

Tesla EVs' hardwares are safe. What's unsafe are the drivers and/or the FSD software.

The firm analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System. It included model year 2018-2022 cars with crashes that resulted in at least one occupant fatality to identify the most dangerous vehicles.

"New cars are safer than they've ever been," said Karl Brauer, iSeeCars Executive Analyst. "Between advanced chassis design, driver assist technology and an array of airbags surrounding the driver, today's car models provide excellent occupant protection," he added.

"But these safety features are being countered by distracted driving and higher rates of speed, leading to rising accident and death rates in recent years.”

Tesla's Full-Self Driving is misleading and it makes drivers complacent and gives them a false sense of security.

Misleading labels like "Full-Self Driving," touchscreen-centric controls and driver complacency have raised growing concern over safety. While Teslas and most cars with ADAS include infrared driver-monitoring cameras, they're far from foolproof.

Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all car brands, followed by Kia, Buick, Dodge and Hyundai, iSeeCars said. "The biggest contributor to occupant safety is avoiding a crash and the biggest factor in crash avoidance is driver behaviour," Brauer said.

"A focused, alert driver, traveling at a legal or prudent speed, without being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, is the most likely to arrive safely regardless of the vehicle they're driving."

The car that topped the occupant fatality rate is an ICE car. It's Hyundai Venue, which reportedly has a fatal accident rate of 13.9 deadly crashes per billion miles driven, followed by the Chevy Corvette and the Mitsubishi Mirage.

With the crashes and fatalities, Tesla's FSD is nowhere near ready to be used for robotaxis.