According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Tesla Full Self-Driving is up to eight times as dangerous as an average driver.” Although Tesla is improving its FSD software often, it is not 100% autonomous. But as stated by Tesla, it will become available in the near future.
Tesla, Inc., which is a leading global electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy company, often recognized as the world’s most valuable automaker by market capitalization, can improve many Tesla owner’s lives in road trips, and long drives, as it can improve driver quality, and help them relax more, but it has its own dangers too.
Even though Tesla states that people can rideshare with no driver with their personal cars, the experiences that we’ve had have not been going towards that. If Tesla would like to be able to rideshare they would have to make the car pull into the parking lot, and park, which it cannot currently do.
A 2023 NIH-indexed study confirmed that “Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta extends Autopilot from highways to urban roads, but found it requires constant supervision. While enhancing capabilities, the system increased driver mental workload and stress, with users becoming complacent or engaging in unsafe, “hands-free” behaviors over time.”
This research conducted 103 in-depth semi-structured interviews with users of Tesla’s FSD Beta and standard Autopilot to evaluate the impact on user behavior and perception, confirmed the NIH-indexed study.
“Autopilot FSD is an advanced driver assistance system that assists your car with steering, accelerating and braking for other vehicles and pedestrians within its lane. It assists with the most burdensome parts of driving and works alongside features like emergency braking, collision warning, and blind-spot monitoring.”
As Tesla might improve through the future, it’s good to stay safe for now until improvements are made. While self-driving is statistically safer, it requires high situational awareness, as it can behave erratically, making “safety” a matter of active, constant, and, at times, stressful supervision.
The main concern is that FSD can struggle with complex scenarios, including sudden lane changes into oncoming traffic, confusion at intersections, and ghost braking. Something to think about before riding a Tesla with FSD autopilot.