Published on April 19, 2017
The first Tesla autopilot-related death in late June caused a predictable smattering of fear mongering headlines. Are autonomous vehicles safe? Will they eventually kill us all?
The panic is not without historical precedent. The first automobile death recorded in the US happened on the Upper West Side of Manhattan over 100 years ago. In that case, it was an electric cab. Since then, American automobile deaths have swelled to about 30,000 per year, or about one death per 100 million miles driven. Since autonomous cars have driven about that distance, one death means the technology isn’t markedly less safe than driven cars. In fact, it’s right on schedule.
