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Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

roadandtrack.com

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Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#161

I'd love to see some sort of multiple regression or ANOVA on this, instead of singling out a single variable. Is car brand really the best independent predictor? Or is it specific design decisions you tend to see in certain brands? (Like, say, maximizing driver distraction by consolidating a bunch of essential controls and information displays into a touchscreen display that's really difficult to operate when it's su…

The Tesla Model Y is a two ton SUV with the performance of a Porsche 911. The base RWD model is fast and the Performance model is stupidly fast. I don't think anyone would be particularly surprised to learn that Porsche drivers get into a lot of fatal accidents.

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#162

Seems flawed. Tesla Model Y was the best selling model worldwide for 2023. (I think #3 if limited to US.) The study only covers 2017-2022, but we can infer that for the entire Brand, Teslas sold quite well over at least that latter part of that period. Now if there are more Teslas on the road vs other vehicles (note they excluded car model years earlier than 2017, another fatal (heh) flaw in the study), it makes sens…

If you had clicked through to the article before writing your comment, you would know that the stat being compared is "fatal crash rate per billion miles driven", and that the fatal crash rate for Teslas is 2.0x the national average

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because comparing the fatality rate of a Corolla going 50mph and a Tesla going 90mph is useless to a person who wants a car that is safe when driven responsibly.

Unless the Tesla induces unsafe behavior, of course. Does the car make it easier to break the speed limit, drive distracted, or drive under the influence? I don’t know.

Quite literally selling points

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#164

I thoroughyl expect the Deparment of Government Efficiency to recommend U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) be shut down to save previous taxpayer dollars.

Am I the only one that is not excited about the next four years being constant banter of this nature? I loathe it. Nothing personal against your comment but the new administration hasn't even gone into office and I cannot get away from this.

[flagged]

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#165

I thoroughyl expect the Deparment of Government Efficiency to recommend U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) be shut down to save previous taxpayer dollars.

Am I the only one that is not excited about the next four years being constant banter of this nature? I loathe it. Nothing personal against your comment but the new administration hasn't even gone into office and I cannot get away from this.

We’ve had them in office before, plus plenty of public statements over the last 10 years.

It’s not exactly baseless speculation. People have things to base their guesses on.

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#166
post #39

In a big picture, this makes sense. You can load the cars with safety features, but it doesn't change the fact that these cars are very heavy, very fast, and loaded with features that reward distracted driving. In the US at least, the top killer of drivers are trees on the side of the road.

> In the US at least, the top killer of drivers are trees on the side of the road. Do you have a source on that?

> From 2016 to 2018 an average of 19,158 fatalities resulted from roadway departures, which is 51 percent of all traffic fatalities in the United States.

https://highways.dot.gov/safety/RwD

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#167

I thoroughyl expect the Deparment of Government Efficiency to recommend U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) be shut down to save previous taxpayer dollars.

Am I the only one that is not excited about the next four years being constant banter of this nature? I loathe it. Nothing personal against your comment but the new administration hasn't even gone into office and I cannot get away from this.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#168
post #99
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems people have a burning desire to live the rural lifestyle, though, even in so-called cities. I just want like... to not be stacked like a sardine for $3500/mo. I would gladly take a rural lifestyle if I could find a job that would support it.

This is a colossal failure for humanity, primarily due to home ownership as an investment vehicle, plus regulatory capture pushed by the car companies and oil and gas companies. There is no technical reason we can't have livable, quiet and spacious apartments, where multiple apartment buildings share a huge, enclosed backyard (almost park-like, even), a setup with tons of small shops, pharmacies, easy access to every…

Even nice apartments are pretty miserable places to live if you have multiple small children, or engage in hobbies or activities that require much equipment. Imagine coming home to your apartment with a muddy mountain bike. Do you haul it up to the 4th floor in the elevator and wash it in your shower? It's possible to make it work but living in a single-family home (or townhouse with attached garage) sure makes regular life a lot easier.

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#169

I wonder how much of this is because (IME anyway) Tesla drivers are not very good. With all that tech it's easy to get distracted (there's literally a giant tablet looking thing for a console). It's also easy to think all the bells and whistles will do things for you so drivers are paying less attention because the car will beep and holler at them if things are going awry (except by that point it's too late).

You can add more parameters.

Whats the temperament of the driver. Certain brands attract hot heads who will drive recklessly. I was kind of expecting more sports cars in the top 5. 2/5 is still a good score.

Given the amount of SUVs as well, no matter how safe you make a small car, if an SUV rams you, it is just not going to end well for the smaller.

Re: Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands, study finds

#170

In a big picture, this makes sense. You can load the cars with safety features, but it doesn't change the fact that these cars are very heavy, very fast, and loaded with features that reward distracted driving. In the US at least, the top killer of drivers are trees on the side of the road.

> You can load the cars with safety features, but it doesn't change the fact that these cars are very heavy Being heavy is actually a safety feature of sort (but just for the people inside the car, it increases overall fatality).

In insurance they call it the "law of lugnuts" - bigger cars have better survivability in direct collisions.

However, most traffic fatalities do not come from direct collisions. They come from driver hitting immobile objects.

Smaller, lighter cars take less kinetic energy with them around corners, are easier to steer and avoid obstacles, and are more likely to stay upright when leaving the road.

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