Tesla Autopilot Cuts The Probability Of Having A Crash By 50%

The biggest argument in favour of autonomous cars has always been safety. It’s simple, really: remove the human, and bye-bye human error. And it seems the addition of Tesla’s semi-autonomous Autopilot - neatly demonstrated below by our man Alex - is already doing wonders for keeping Tesla drivers and occupants safer.

Elektrek cites a talk CEO Elon Musk gave in Norway recently, in which he said:

“The probability of having an accident is 50 per cent lower if you have Autopilot on. Even with our first version. So we can see basically what’s the average number of kilometres to an accident – accident defined by airbag deployment. Even with this early version, it’s almost twice as good as a person.”

While the rise of autonomous vehicles does raise questions about where us car enthusiasts will eventually fit in, it’s hard to argue with those numbers. And when you consider those numbers and watch real-life examples of Autopilot saving drivers from potentially serious accidents, the case for giving the squishy bit behind the wheel less of a role becomes stronger still.

All this is with the first version of Autopilot. The second generation system - which will be fully autonomous - is expected to be with us within two years.