Tesla accused of misleading regulators with 'cooked' safety data for autonomous driving approval in Europe

Tesla presented its own safety statistics to Swedish and Dutch regulators in an effort to secure European approval for its autonomous driving system. However, independent road safety researchers have told Reuters that these self-compiled figures are misleading marketing tactics.

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the increase in the use of automated driving contributes to safer roads.

Reuters' analysis last month revealed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other executives have increasingly cited company statistics claiming the autonomous driving feature is up to 10 times safer than human drivers. The analysis found that several comparisons underpinning these statistics were based on invalid data.

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we do not rely on marketing claims or external statistics

Tesla provided these exaggerated safety figures to some European regulators as it seeks wider approval for its autonomous driving capabilities in a region where it is trying to recover market share. The company charges a monthly subscription for its "full self-driving capability" system, which allows autonomous driving under certain conditions but requires human supervision.

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conducts its own tests, analyses and checks

After over a year of discussions, Dutch authorities approved Tesla's system in April. The Dutch Road Traffic Safety (RDW) is now seeking EU-wide approval for Tesla. While the RDW declined to comment on Reuters' findings, it stated that its decisions are not based on marketing claims or external statistics, but on its own tests and verification.

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collected a large amount of data