Number of Deaths and Injuries Associated with Tesla’s Autopilot Increases

image of Tesla sign on building for Tesla's Autopilot blog post

In 2019, there were hundreds of car crashes involving Teslas in Autopilot mode, according to a Washington Post analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data. And that number has increased in the past four years. Injuries and deaths associated with Tesla’s Autopilot mode have risen alarmingly, and call into question just how safe the driver-assistance technology is.

Driver-Assistance Technology Incidents

The NHTSA started collecting data on driver-assistance technology following a 2021 federal order requiring automakers to reveal crashes involving the tech, The Washington Post reported. Since then, the majority of the 807 automation-related crashes have involved Teslas, the data indicates.

Tesla’s Autopilot was involved in 736 crashes in the United States since 2019, according to the data. By comparison, Subaru has been involved in 23 reported crashes since 2019.

Of those 736 crashes in the U.S. since 2019, 17 of them were fatal. 11 deaths have sadly occurred since May 2022 alone, according to Inside EVs.

As a result of the startling increase in this type of crash, there are continuing investigations involving the technology, according to the NHTSA.

What is Autopilot?

Tesla introduced Autopilot in 2014. It includes features that allow a vehicle to handle commands like operating itself from highway on-ramp to off-ramp, maintaining speed and distance behind other cars on the road, and following lane lines, the Post reported. The company offers it as a standard feature on all of its vehicles. 

Tesla also offers advanced experimental driver-assistance technology – for a price. Full Self-Driving lets Teslas move from one point to another by following turn-by-turn directions along a route, stopping for stop signs and traffic lights, completing turns and lane changes, and responding to hazards on the route, but customers have to purchase the feature. 

Full Self-Driving has grown from about 12,000 users to nearly 400,000 in just over a year, The Washington Post reported.

Is Tesla’s Autopilot a ‘Cause for Concern’?

Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University professor with a background in research on autonomous-vehicle safety, told the outlet the high number of Teslas in the data does lead to some questions.

“A significantly higher number certainly is a cause for concern,” he said. 

“We need to understand if it’s due to actually worse crashes or if there’s some other factor such as a dramatically larger number of miles being driven with Autopilot on.”

It is possible that the rise in accidents involving Teslas could be due to the elimination of radar – radio detection and ranging – from the brand’s vehicles. In 2021, Tesla revealed that it planned to depend on camera-based vision processing instead. The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, said last year on Twitter, “Only very high-resolution radar is relevant.”

While Musk claims that Autopilot is “unequivocally safer,” with Tesla alleging in a March presentation that Full Self-Driving crashes happen at a rate at least one-fifth that of cars in normal driving when comparing miles driven per collision, The Washington Post noted that it’s not possible to confirm the claim without detailed data. 

Tesla Autopilot Vehicles Aren’t ‘Autonomous’

In May 2023, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the Associated Press that Autopilot is not a fitting name for the driver-assistance technology because “the fine print says you need to have your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road at all times.”

Indeed, Tesla’s own website states, “Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment. While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

But the name “Autopilot” could lead some Tesla drivers into a fall sense of security, making them less focused on the road and potentially more susceptible to preventable tragedies. 

Contact Phillips Law Group for Help

If you or a loved one has been involved in a crash involving Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assistance technology, the team at Phillips Law Group may be able to assist you. Our firm can do a free, no-obligation review of your case to determine your legal options or the options your loved one has available to take action and potentially receive compensation. 

Please call us at 602-222-2222 to learn more. You can also contact us by filling out the form on this page to get in touch. Our team is dedicated to helping those who have been hurt due to the negligence of others and we are always available to discuss your situation with you.