Certainly, Autopilot remains one of the most controversial elements of Tesla’s cars. The system combines features like adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping, and auto lane-change, and is intended to assist drivers on highways.
Though those features are available on other cars from rival automakers, Tesla’s bullish claims about how capable Autopilot is have prompted criticism from some. Although the official guidance is that drivers are still entirely responsible for the operation of their car, that hasn’t stopped some Tesla owners from performing stunts like napping behind the wheel or even leaving the driver’s seat altogether. Meanwhile a number of high-profile crashes where Autopilot was active has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, though, insists that Autopilot makes for safer driving, and it says it has the statistics to back that assertion up. “In the 1st quarter, we registered one accident for every 2.87 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged,” the automaker said today. “For those driving without Autopilot, we registered one accident for every 1.76 million miles driven. By comparison, NHTSA’s most recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash every 436,000 miles.”
Source: Tesla just revealed its first Autopilot accident rate for 2019 – SlashGear