Two Democratic senators have requested the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration review Tesla's safety statistics for its Full Self-Driving system.
Senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal cited a Reuters investigation in a letter to NHTSA, calling Tesla's analysis weak and misleading. The investigation found Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other leaders have claimed FSD is up to 10 times safer than human drivers.
Researchers told Reuters Tesla achieves this exaggeration by comparing its rate of crashes that deploy airbags against a general U.S. crash rate that includes minor accidents. The company also benchmarks its newer fleet against the average, much older American vehicle, distorting results as safety features have advanced over time.
The senators label the situation an urgent safety problem and have asked NHTSA to respond by July 7. The letter urges stronger reporting requirements for advanced driver-assistance systems.