Tesla FSD safety claims questioned by employees and researchers
Reuters reported that Tesla FSD employees and former workers have raised concerns about the system's safety performance, including footage of near-misses and failures, while researchers disputed the methodology Tesla uses to claim superiority over human drivers. Estonia approved the Level 2 system for public road use in May 2026 following Dutch type approval.
What happened
Reuters investigated Tesla's Full Self-Driving program and interviewed current and former employees including data labelers, engineers, researchers, and safety experts. Workers described reviewing footage of Teslas struggling with school buses, emergency vehicles, construction zones, pedestrians, and speed control, with several former employees stating they would not personally trust the system to drive them.
Reuters reported that outside researchers found major issues with Tesla's safety comparisons, alleging the company compared crashes involving airbag deployments in FSD-equipped vehicles against broader federal datasets including less severe incidents, and compared relatively new Teslas against the entire U.S. vehicle fleet averaging over a decade old.
Reported impact
Former employees described footage allegedly showing FSD-enabled Teslas striking animals, missing hazards, or requiring human intervention at the last possible second. An internal Tesla group referred to as the 'trauma team' focused on near-misses involving pedestrians, including children.
Index analysis
Tesla has publicly argued that Full Self-Driving is dramatically safer than human drivers. However, outside researchers reviewing Tesla's methodology identified methodological flaws in these comparisons.
Governance controls
Estonia's transport authority cleared Tesla's FSD for use on public roads in May 2026, recognizing a type approval first granted in the Netherlands after 18 months of testing. Tesla's FSD is classified as a level 2 driver assistance system, meaning the driver remains fully responsible and must be ready to take over immediately.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.