Pursuits
Tesla’s Autopilot Vindicated With 40% Drop in Crashes
A U.S. crash investigation ends up suggesting the feature actually increases safety—significantly.
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Tesla’s driver-assistance features, known collectively as Autopilot, have been vindicated.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has closed its investigation into a May 7 collision with a tractor-trailer that killed a driver using Autopilot. The agency found no indication of a safety problem with it. In fact, the evidence provided by Tesla included crucial data that’s been missing from the safety debate surrounding automated cars: crash rates.