Tesla Deaths

Tesla Deaths is a record of Tesla accidents that involved a driver, occupant, cyclist, motorcyclist, or pedestrian death, whether or not the Tesla or its driver were at fault

An updated record of Tesla fatalities that have been reported and as much related crash data as possible (e.g. location of crash, names of deceased, etc.). This sheet also tallies claimed and confirmed Tesla autopilot crashes, i.e. instances when Autopilot was activated during a Tesla crash that resulted in death. Read our other sheets for additional data and analysis on vehicle miles traveled, links and analysis comparing Musk's safety claims, and more.


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FAQ

Q: Why do you include deaths where the Tesla was not at fault?

NHTSA death statistics cited by Elon Musk do not differentiate between at-fault and not-at-fault. All manufacturers are treated the same way. For the purposes of calculating Tesla fatalities in accordance with NHTSA methodology, I also do not include the many deaths in other vehicles, despite Teslas being at fault in the majority of those cases.

Q: Why do you include deaths in other vehicles, as well as pedestrian and cyclist deaths?

There is also a column that shows only driver deaths

Q: Your data captures all driving miles. But AutoPilot is safer!

See the Jalopnik article on the 'Resources' tab, which discusses the NHTSA coverup of AutoPilot data

Q: You are just counting deaths in news articles. You can't base any conclusions on that.

Deaths reported in news articles are a lower bound on Tesla deaths.

Q: Tesla only has 3x the driver deaths of luxury vehicles because you're comparing Tesla to Lamborghinis and Bugattis that are seldom driven

No. The 'Medium' article on the 'Resources' tab compares Teslas to BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes.

Q: You include a death where a piece of concrete fell on a Tesla. That's absurd!

See the first question above. Auto fatality statistics include *all* deaths, no matter how absurd. So to compare Tesla to other vehicles, we need to include all deaths.