Tesla shared inflated safety statistics for its Full Self-Driving system with regulators in the Netherlands and Sweden while seeking approval for the technology. The data included claims that the system could have saved 32,000 lives and prevented 1.9 million injuries. Independent researchers have described the methodology as flawed.
Tesla sent a letter to the Dutch road authority RDW in November 2024 that linked to a safety report and stated that increased use of Full Self-Driving leads to safer roads. The agency approved the system in the Netherlands in April and is now pursuing EU-wide approval on Tesla's behalf.
Soon after the Dutch decision, Tesla policy manager Ivan Komusanac emailed Swedish regulators with a presentation that claimed vehicles using Full Self-Driving travel more than seven times farther between crashes than the average U.S. driver. The presentation also asserted the system could have saved 32,000 lives based on replacing all U.S. vehicles with FSD-equipped Teslas.
RDW said it conducts its own tests rather than relying on external statistics. Swedish Transport Agency investigator Anders Eriksson stated that regulators look beyond headline figures. Norway's Public Roads Administration noted that Tesla's figures are self-produced and difficult to correlate with official accident data.
The European Transport Safety Council called for Tesla to submit its data to a university for independent verification before making safety claims.
