Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that cars operating in Tesla’s Autopilot mode are safer than those piloted solely by human drivers, citing crash rates when the modes of driving are compared. He has pushed the carmaker to develop and deploy features programmed to maneuver the roads, arguing that the technology will usher in a safer, virtually accident-free future. While it’s impossible to say how many crashes may have been averted, the data shows clear flaws in the technology being tested in real time on America’s highways.
I agree with you that we need more data. Right now the USA average car death’s are 1.37 per 100 million miles driven.
From what little Tesla has talked about the autopilot is below that average. BUT the raw data hasn’t been released. We don’t know how many miles have been driven on autopilot, we don’t know the road conditions it was used in (assumingely autopilot would be used more often on freeways), and we don’t know how the safety rating of the Tesla vehicle compares to others on the road (its possible Teslas are getting in more accidents but the car is keeping them safe, or vice versa).
Too many unknowns. So while I dislike this article because it mostly comes off as hollow in my eyes, I do think that Tesla needs to make more of it’s data public so users can make an informed choice.