Tesla cars get into accidents many times less often than “regular” cars. This is evidenced by reports that the company itself regularly shares. Moreover, it is worth separating accidents with the autopilot turned on from accidents in which the driver was driving the electric vehicle.
How does Tesla Autopilot help avoid accidents? How safe is it? Thanks to what actions will the driver of this electric car never get into an accident? We’ll talk about it below!
Tesla Autopilot: what it can do
At the current level of autonomy, the autopilot of these electric vehicles can do the following:
- keeps the car in the lane;
- maneuvers in traffic jams;
- reads surrounding cars and reacts to them accordingly – avoids collisions;
- independently rebuilds and overtakes passing cars, if necessary;
- reads road signs, observing speed limits.
And the on-board computer will park the electric car on the side of the road and stop it if you fall asleep at the wheel and do not respond to its triple warning.
If we’re not lying, the set of these options can be called more like advanced cruise control than an “autonomous” driving system. And yet, this “advanced cruise control” in terms of safety gives a head start to all competitors on the market without exception. Both with an internal combustion engine under the hood and with an electric motor in the bottom.
There are currently three levels of Tesla Autopilot. The maximum level is available only to US residents. However, a number of conditions must be met for its use, including certain road markings.
The first level of Tesla autonomy is available in Ukraine. But even this is enough for a comfortable ride around the city and on the highway. As a driver, you can allow yourself some pranks – for example, take your hands off the wheel and watch how the car itself takes you to your destination, changes lanes and overtakes passing cars. At the same time, you must be ready to react to the traffic situation if it requires it.
How to avoid an accident while driving a Tesla
Everything is very simple. When driving a Tesla, even on autopilot, you need to understand that autopilot is an assistant. At least at the current stage of development of autonomous driving systems, until Elon Musk removed the pedals and steering wheel from the design of his cars. When he makes an official statement that “electric cars with the maximum level of autopilot are ready for driving on public roads,” then you, the driver, will be able to sit in the back seat with a clear conscience, run some game like “The Witcher” on the monitor and relax. In the meantime, you are driving the car. And for violating traffic rules, responsibility still lies with you.
Statistics of accidents involving Tesla
Tesla safety in numbers:
- At the end of 2018, Tesla provided a report according to which an accident involving Autopilot occurs once every 5.3 million kilometers. Without the participation of the autopilot – once every 3 million km;
- In the report for the first quarter of 2020, accidents with autopilot on already occurred once every 7.53 million kilometers. Without autonomous control enabled – once every 3.2 million kilometers.
This not only shows that Tesla’s security systems are improving. Over a period of one and a half years, thanks to computers, the safety of driving these EVs increased by 42%. Whereas with the participation of drivers it became safer by only 6.6%. This suggests that the computer makes fewer mistakes.
Elon Musk’s company publishes this report quarterly. In it you can also find statistics on fires of these cars.
A few years ago, the US Highway Loss Data Institute reported that “the number of insurance claims in connection with accidents involving the Tesla Model S has decreased.” This is another argument in favor of the fact that Teslas have been and remain one of the safest cars in the world today.