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Mechanically sure, but I still feel way safer when a Tesla (of any kind) is approaching me as a pedestrian or bicyclist than any other vehicle (except maybe Way

Mechanically sure, but I still feel way safer when a Tesla (of any kind) is approaching me as a pedestrian or bicyclist than any other vehicle (except maybe Waymo) because I know they will alert the driver and brake if necessary. Any other car, especially older trucks, I'm quite afraid of, based on experience.

maxeda 11mo ago
Given the amount of pedestrians that have been killed by Telsas in "autopilot" mode, I can't say that I agree.
- vardump 11mo ago
  Could you give me some numbers about deaths caused by Tesla versus other brands per mile driven? It seems to be very difficult to find enough information to draw any conclusions.
  - ben_w 11mo ago
    I believe the only information is crowd-sourced: About: https://electrek.co/2025/02/06/elon-musk-approved-tesla-full-self-driving-dataset-doubled-whats-the-state-of-fsd-now/ https://electrek.co/2025/02/06/elon-musk-approved-tesla-full... Actual data: https://teslafsdtracker.com/ https://teslafsdtracker.com/
MattDaEskimo 11mo ago
May be misplaced considering Teslas have hit pedestrians. Additionally, many cars have pedestrian/object collision detection.
toomuchtodo 11mo ago
> because I know they will alert the driver and brake if necessary. This is not necessarily accurate. https://x.com/TaylorOgan/status/1681240264554209281 https://x.com/TaylorOgan/status/1681240264554209281 ("Warning: Graphic; Last month, a 76-year-old pedestrian was tragically mowed down by a Tesla Model S in Brooklyn, NY. Both of his legs were torn off, according to witnesses. New data from the NHTSA says the Tesla was engaged on Autopilot/Full Self-Driving mode.") https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/model-y-doesnt-stop-for-pedestrian-crossing-road-while-driving-forward-no-chimes-nothing-no-alert-ap-not-engaged-any-suggestions.306449/ https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/model-y-doesnt-stop-... https://www.tesladeaths.com/ https://www.tesladeaths.com/ I own several Teslas, would not trust them to stop for a pedestrian while in any driver assist mode. It may work, but if you rely on it, be prepared for consequences when it fails, as you are the responsible party when it fails.
- romaaeterna 11mo ago
  That first crash sure doesn't sound like Autopilot/FSD, given that the car kept going after the crash.
  - toomuchtodo 11mo ago
    Tesla is currently renting vehicles for $60/day due to diminished demand; if one would like to test this personally, the cost is minimal. Avoid bodily injury whenever possible during testing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coeaqdexknE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coeaqdexknE https://electrek.co/2025/11/10/tesla-cant-sell-cars-so-renting-them-now/ https://electrek.co/2025/11/10/tesla-cant-sell-cars-so-renti... Edit: @romaaeterna Are you willing to stand in front of it while it is at speed without a safety driver? I am trying to reconcile the mental model with risk appetite and potential gaps between priors and current state.
    - romaaeterna 11mo ago
      I have a Tesla and a drive FSD back and forth to work every day. It's great Edit in response to your edit: Would I risk myself standing in front of a FSD Tesla versus in front of an Uber or an average human-controlled car with the standard percentage chance of the human texting or being otherwise distracted or drunk or tired? I would take FSD. And I think that a mathematical rather than emotional evaluation of the odds would make risk-minded people do the same.
      - hn_acc1 11mo ago
        Hopefully not anywhere near me. My family needs me.
        dzhiurgis 11mo ago
        [flagged]
- behringer 11mo ago
micwag 11mo ago
Are collision avoidance system and automated emergency braking not standard in the US? Here in Switzerland basically every new vehicle has them.
roflchoppa 11mo ago
https://youtu.be/_47utWAoupo?t=16 https://youtu.be/_47utWAoupo?t=16
thinkingtoilet 11mo ago
My Honda has a break alert system.
sfpotter 11mo ago
In my experience, Tesla drivers are some of the worst drivers on the road. They seem to pay the least attention to what's going on around them and are the most likely to pay fast and loose with the rules of the road. I don't know what's to account for this. There has been at least one study out of Berkeley that suggests that people who drive more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road. It's possible that (at least here in Seattle), this is more likely to be the driver's first car since many people driving them are highly paid tech workers who often hail from others countries and who may not have as good of a grasp of driving in the US. Or it may be that this is enabled by autopilot itself (if your car is taking care of the safety you don't have to pay as much attention).
- dexwiz 11mo ago
  The last reason is the biggest imo. Previously if you didn't pay attention you would crash relatively often. Now you aren't punished in the same way. In the same way spell check made us worse spellers. You aren't required to pay attention to detail, so you never develop that skill.
  - travisgriggs 11mo ago
    I taught my kids to drive both manuals and automatics. Usually we got the hang of driving an automatic, and then added manual in to the mix. But with one of my kids, it was exactly as above. They scared the crap out of me, because they just would not focus well enough. We transitioned to a manual so that they were required to focus on the task at hand, and they then turned into a good driver. (Aside: my kids, now college+ age have all gotten great deals on cars on college budgets, because they were willing to take a manual that cost far less due to reduced demand).
- mschuster91 11mo ago
  > There has been at least one study out of Berkeley that suggests that people who drive more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road. In Germany, we have a joke - BMWs don't need turn signal indicators, they have built-in precedence that comes with paying the money one needs to have to afford a BMW.
bink 11mo ago
As a motorcyclist I feel far less safe when one is around me. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tesla-fatal-seattle-area-crash-killed-motorcyclist-was-self-driving-mo-rcna164488 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tesla-fatal-seattle-are...
array_key_first 11mo ago
Virtually every car made in the past 5-10 years emergency brakes. I mean, modern Honda's have the same level of autonomous driving as Teslas.

maxeda 11mo ago

Given the amount of pedestrians that have been killed by Telsas in "autopilot" mode, I can't say that I agree.

vardump 11mo ago
Could you give me some numbers about deaths caused by Tesla versus other brands per mile driven? It seems to be very difficult to find enough information to draw any conclusions.
- ben_w 11mo ago
  I believe the only information is crowd-sourced: About: https://electrek.co/2025/02/06/elon-musk-approved-tesla-full-self-driving-dataset-doubled-whats-the-state-of-fsd-now/ https://electrek.co/2025/02/06/elon-musk-approved-tesla-full... Actual data: https://teslafsdtracker.com/ https://teslafsdtracker.com/

MattDaEskimo 11mo ago

May be misplaced considering Teslas have hit pedestrians. Additionally, many cars have pedestrian/object collision detection.

toomuchtodo 11mo ago

> because I know they will alert the driver and brake if necessary. This is not necessarily accurate. https://x.com/TaylorOgan/status/1681240264554209281 https://x.com/TaylorOgan/status/1681240264554209281 ("Warning: Graphic; Last month, a 76-year-old pedestrian was tragically mowed down by a Tesla Model S in Brooklyn, NY. Both of his legs were torn off, according to witnesses. New data from the NHTSA says the Tesla was engaged on Autopilot/Full Self-Driving mode.") https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/model-y-doesnt-stop-for-pedestrian-crossing-road-while-driving-forward-no-chimes-nothing-no-alert-ap-not-engaged-any-suggestions.306449/ https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/model-y-doesnt-stop-... https://www.tesladeaths.com/ https://www.tesladeaths.com/ I own several Teslas, would not trust them to stop for a pedestrian while in any driver assist mode. It may work, but if you rely on it, be prepared for consequences when it fails, as you are the responsible party when it fails.

romaaeterna 11mo ago
That first crash sure doesn't sound like Autopilot/FSD, given that the car kept going after the crash.
- toomuchtodo 11mo ago
  Tesla is currently renting vehicles for $60/day due to diminished demand; if one would like to test this personally, the cost is minimal. Avoid bodily injury whenever possible during testing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coeaqdexknE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coeaqdexknE https://electrek.co/2025/11/10/tesla-cant-sell-cars-so-renting-them-now/ https://electrek.co/2025/11/10/tesla-cant-sell-cars-so-renti... Edit: @romaaeterna Are you willing to stand in front of it while it is at speed without a safety driver? I am trying to reconcile the mental model with risk appetite and potential gaps between priors and current state.
  - romaaeterna 11mo ago
    I have a Tesla and a drive FSD back and forth to work every day. It's great Edit in response to your edit: Would I risk myself standing in front of a FSD Tesla versus in front of an Uber or an average human-controlled car with the standard percentage chance of the human texting or being otherwise distracted or drunk or tired? I would take FSD. And I think that a mathematical rather than emotional evaluation of the odds would make risk-minded people do the same.
    - hn_acc1 11mo ago
      Hopefully not anywhere near me. My family needs me.
      - dzhiurgis 11mo ago
        [flagged]
behringer 11mo ago

micwag 11mo ago

Are collision avoidance system and automated emergency braking not standard in the US? Here in Switzerland basically every new vehicle has them.

roflchoppa 11mo ago

https://youtu.be/_47utWAoupo?t=16 https://youtu.be/_47utWAoupo?t=16

thinkingtoilet 11mo ago

My Honda has a break alert system.

sfpotter 11mo ago

In my experience, Tesla drivers are some of the worst drivers on the road. They seem to pay the least attention to what's going on around them and are the most likely to pay fast and loose with the rules of the road. I don't know what's to account for this. There has been at least one study out of Berkeley that suggests that people who drive more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road. It's possible that (at least here in Seattle), this is more likely to be the driver's first car since many people driving them are highly paid tech workers who often hail from others countries and who may not have as good of a grasp of driving in the US. Or it may be that this is enabled by autopilot itself (if your car is taking care of the safety you don't have to pay as much attention).

dexwiz 11mo ago
The last reason is the biggest imo. Previously if you didn't pay attention you would crash relatively often. Now you aren't punished in the same way. In the same way spell check made us worse spellers. You aren't required to pay attention to detail, so you never develop that skill.
- travisgriggs 11mo ago
  I taught my kids to drive both manuals and automatics. Usually we got the hang of driving an automatic, and then added manual in to the mix. But with one of my kids, it was exactly as above. They scared the crap out of me, because they just would not focus well enough. We transitioned to a manual so that they were required to focus on the task at hand, and they then turned into a good driver. (Aside: my kids, now college+ age have all gotten great deals on cars on college budgets, because they were willing to take a manual that cost far less due to reduced demand).
mschuster91 11mo ago
> There has been at least one study out of Berkeley that suggests that people who drive more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road. In Germany, we have a joke - BMWs don't need turn signal indicators, they have built-in precedence that comes with paying the money one needs to have to afford a BMW.

bink 11mo ago

As a motorcyclist I feel far less safe when one is around me. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tesla-fatal-seattle-area-crash-killed-motorcyclist-was-self-driving-mo-rcna164488 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tesla-fatal-seattle-are...

array_key_first 11mo ago

Virtually every car made in the past 5-10 years emergency brakes. I mean, modern Honda's have the same level of autonomous driving as Teslas.