US Senators Urge NHTSA to Scrutinize Tesla's FSD Safety Claims

Two U.S. senators are urging the nation’s traffic safety regulator to scrutinize Tesla’s self-published crash statistics for its "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) driver-assistance system, following a Reuters investigation that alleged the electric vehicle manufacturer has exaggerated its safety claims.

Democratic Senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut dispatched a letter to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Monday.

Citing the Reuters report, the senators asserted that the analysis underpinning Tesla’s FSD safety statistics is "weak and misleading," thereby creating "an urgent safety problem."

The letter demands a response from NHTSA by July 7, seeking answers on whether the agency has evaluated Tesla’s FSD safety claims or requested the underlying crash data used to formulate these assertions.

The senators further pressed NHTSA to bolster reporting requirements for companies employing self-driving technology or advanced driver-assistance systems, such as Tesla’s FSD, stating that the agency currently has no way to know whether "public safety claims bear any relationship to reality."

Neither Tesla nor NHTSA responded to requests for comment regarding the senators' letter.

The Reuters examination last month revealed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other executives have increasingly cited statistics over the past year, claiming FSD is up to 10 times safer than human drivers.

However, researchers interviewed by Reuters indicated that Tesla inflates the technology’s safety by comparing the rate of FSD-piloted Tesla crashes that resulted in airbag deployments to a broader U.S. crash rate for all vehicles, which encompasses far less severe incidents.

The company also compares its newer vehicles to the average U.S. vehicle, which is considerably older than the typical Tesla. This comparison distorts results, as newer cars often incorporate advanced safety features that reduce crash frequency.

Reuters also reported earlier this week that Tesla has presented this inflated safety data to European regulators in its bid to secure EU approval for FSD.