Elon Musk has sought to portray Tesla's cars as the "safest on the road," but a new analysis of federal data in the United States claims the company has a higher rate of "fatal" crashes than its peers, Gizmodo reports.

The research, based on information from car search engine iSeeCars, analyzed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Reporting System (FARS) fatality index, and concluded that "Tesla has the highest fatal crash rate by brand, followed by Kia, Buick, Dodge, and Hyundai."



The report also notes that "Teslas may not have any particular features that make them more dangerous, but drivers are more likely to crash or be involved in accidents."

“A sober driver who is driving at a legal or prudent speed and is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol is more likely to arrive safely no matter what vehicle they are driving,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.

In contrast, other reports have touched on the safety issue of Tesla cars, as a report by vehicle history information company EpicVIN indicated that among all car brands, Tesla drivers were the least likely to suffer fatal injuries.

Looking at the two previous reports, it can be seen that Tesla drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal accidents but less likely to die in those accidents.

A study published by auto and mortgage lending giant Lending Tree in December 2023 also claimed that Tesla drivers have the highest accident rate of any brand, reporting a rate of 23.54 accidents per 1,000 drivers.

Automated driving

The site said that "Tesla's reliance on automated software has been viewed as a potential safety issue," while a 2022 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claimed that in the previous 12 months, Tesla was responsible for about 70% of car crashes involving driver assistance systems.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released another report in April, saying that “Tesla’s Autopilot feature has a critical safety gap that could be linked to hundreds of crashes.”

An analysis by The Washington Post last summer found that Tesla’s Autopilot function had been implicated in a total of 17 deaths and up to 736 crashes since 2019. The paper cited statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.