Tesla submits self-produced FSD safety data to EU regulators

Tesla has presented self-published safety statistics for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system directly to regulators in Sweden and the Netherlands, data that independent traffic-safety researchers have called misleading. The correspondence, obtained by Reuters through public records requests, shows the automaker used these figures as it lobbies for European approval of the driver-assistance technology.

The core of Tesla's presentation is a claim that vehicles using FSD can travel more than seven times farther between crashes than the average U.S. human driver. A related assertion suggests the system could have saved 32,000 lives and prevented 1.9 million injuries. Researchers who reviewed the methodology say these figures rely on unrealistic assumptions, including the hypothetical replacement of every vehicle on U.S. roads-including freight trucks and motorcycles-with an FSD-enabled Tesla. They also criticized Tesla for comparing a rate of crashes in its own vehicles severe enough to deploy airbags against a broader U.S. crash rate that includes many minor incidents, a mismatch that inflates the apparent safety margin. Furthermore, comparing newer Teslas to the average U.S....