Tesla Safety Report Shows Fewer Accidents Per Mile With Autopilot

Tesla Inc TSLA has some of the safest cars on the road, according to NHTSA testing. The Model Y recently scored a five-star safety rating in all categories tested. 

Every quarter, Tesla releases a safety report showing how many accidents per mile occur in the company's vehicles. The stats are broken down into three categories: accidents using Autopilot, accidents without Autopilot but with active safety features and accidents where all safety features, including Autopilot, are turned off. 

In the fourth quarter, Tesla vehicles using Autopilot had an accident every 3.45 million miles, the company said. Vehicles without Autopilot but with Tesla's active safety features turned on were in an accident every 2.05 milliion miles, and vehicles with no active safety features were in an accident every 1.27 million miles driven. 

Tesla compares this data to NHTSA data showing there is a car accident every 484,000 miles on average.

While the miles from the NHTSA aren't the same as miles in a Tesla, or even a Tesla using Autopilot, the data shows a Tesla driver is far less likely to experience an accident than an average driver.

Many say Tesla's naming of the company's driver assist tech is misleading, even going as far as being sued by the German government, but the data here shows users with the Autopilot ability, despite its name, are in far fewer accidents. 

Photo courtesy of Tesla.