Tesla: Autopilot statistics show function is safer than driving without

NORWALK — After State Police reported a crash in Norwalk early Saturday where a Tesla driver claimed his car was on autopilot — and that he had been checking on his dog in the back seat — social media users expressed concern about automated driving features, some saying that autopilot should not be allowed.

The concern is nothing new, as reports of crashes involving autopilot and online videos that show Tesla drivers asleep at the wheel have drawn scrutiny. But statistics released by Tesla tell a second story.

The company’s safety report indicates that in the third quarter of this year, fewer accidents occurred while Teslas were driven in autopilot than when autopilot was deactivated.

Tesla registered one accident per every 4.34 million miles driven with autopilot activated, as compared to one in every 2.70 million miles driven without Autopilot but with active safety features.

And overall, Tesla drivers were involved in accidents at rates below the national average, per the report.

Tesla emphasizes, however, that cars on autopilot are not fully autonomous. They still require drivers.

“Autopilot features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous,” the company’s website says.

But not everyone is paying attention.

An NBC10 Boston investigation last month that showed Tesla drivers bypassing a safety feature so that they did not need to keep their hands on the wheel.

If drivers keep their hands off the wheel for more than 30 seconds, they are supposed to trigger a series of safety alerts, the report said.

But by tricking the sensors using everything from weights to oranges, Tesla operators have found ways to cruise while they sleep, according to NBC10.

In the wake of the investigation, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey asked Tesla to act on the problem and prevent drivers from evading safety features, NBC10 reported.

Though Connecticut in 2018 announced a pilot program to test selfdriving cars, it could be decades before fully automated vehicles are available to the general public, a CNBC report earlier this year said.