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Tesla drivers involved in highest accident rate, study finds. Here's why
Tesla drivers had 23.54 accidents per 1,000 drivers between November 14, 2022, to November 13, 2023 in the United States.
Tesla car drivers in the United States were involved in more accidents than drivers of any other brand of vehicle in the last year, a new study has found.
According to a research by Lending Tree, Tesla drivers had 23.54 accidents per 1,000 drivers between November 14, 2022, to November 13, 2023. Tesla drivers were followed by Ram (22.76) and Subaru (20.90) per 1,000 drivers.
Meanwhile, drivers of Pontiac (8.41), Mercury (8.96) and Saturn (9.13) were involved in the least amount of accidents. The analysis was done across cars of 30 brands.
Drivers of BMWs were most likely to engage in driving under the influence (DUI), the researchers found. They were involved in about 3 DUIs per 1,000 drivers in a year, about twice the rate of DUIs among Ram drivers, who were the second worst drivers in this regard.
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Nine car brands had drivers with DUI rates below 1.00. Of those nine, Mitsubuish (0.89), Volvo (0.92), Mercury (0.93) and Kia (0.93) drivers had the lowest DUI rates for the period analysed.
Lending Tree said that while it is hard to nail down why certain brands may have higher accident rates than others. However, there are indications that certain types of vehicles attract riskier drivers than others.
“Most people who drive minivans seem more interested in getting their kids around town safely than they are in zipping around in a high-horsepower vehicle,” Rob Bhatt, LendingTree insurance expert and a licensed insurance agent. said.
Bhatt further added: “Regardless of the vehicle you drive, it’s important to be responsible behind the wheel. If you look at crash statistics, you’ll see that speeding, impairment and distracted driving are among the leading causes of car crashes. These are all behaviours you can control.”
Earlier this month, Elon Musk's Tesla announced that it is recalling more than 2 million (20 lakh) models sold by it in the United States over safety concerns flagged by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The recall follows a 2-year NHTSA-led investigation into a series of Tesla vehicle crashes – some of these were fatal – that happened even as the Autopilot partially automated driving system was in use.
