The 39 plus 14 means 43 deaths due to Autopilot.

In total, NHTSA investigated 956 crashes, starting in January 2018 and extending all the way until August 2023. Of those crashes, some of which involved other vehicles striking the Tesla vehicle, 29 people died. There were also 211 crashes in which “the frontal plane of the Tesla struck a vehicle or obstacle in its path.” These crashes, which were often the most severe, resulted in 14 deaths and 49 injuries.

Why so many? The NHTSA cites serious design deficiencies in Tesla when compared to industry safety standards.

“A comparison of Tesla’s design choices to those of L2 peers identified Tesla as an industry outlier in its approach to L2 technology by mismatching a weak driver engagement system with Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities,” the agency said.

Even the brand name “Autopilot” is misleading, NHTSA said, conjuring up the idea that drivers are not in control. While other companies use some version of “assist,” “sense,” or “team,” Tesla’s products lure drivers into thinking they are more capable than they are. California’s attorney general and the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles are both investigating Tesla for misleading branding and marketing.

Not just an outlier, Tesla allegedly is a liar too. Management is suspected of covering up even more deaths.

NHTSA acknowledges that its probe may be incomplete based on “gaps” in Tesla’s telemetry data. That could mean there are many more crashes involving Autopilot and FSD than what NHTSA was able to find.

We may finally be approaching a point of no return for the brand, where it is rightfully banned for intentionally terrible design that poses a dangerous threat.

Lawn darts killed fewer. Ford Pinto killed fewer.

A Tesla is suspected (not yet confirmed) in a Pleasanton crash that killed four. The car mysteriously left the road, burst into flames and burned the trapped occupants to death.

A family of four was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Pleasanton Wednesday night, according to officials.

The crash happened at about 9 p.m. on [5800] Foothill Road near Stoneridge Drive, police said.

The vehicle left the roadway for unknown reasons, hit a tree and burst into flames.

Police said the victims were a mother, a father and two children under the age of 15.

Notably, it seems nobody could get out of the car after it abruptly veered at high speed into a tree. That’s the hallmark death trap of a Tesla. It will be interesting to see if any other brand of car ever has these same safety issues.

Police aren’t revealing much yet, other than it was a large oak tree.

Related, the nearby Pleasanton-based rental car sales company Hertz has put 1,500 of its used death trap Tesla on the market, starting at $20K.

I thought it interesting that an April 1966 edition of the New Yorker offered this sarcasm about the American automobile industry.

The original sin. A Tesla S killed a cyclist when it was first released, which allegedly prompted Elon Musk to promise he would make an Autopilot to end all deaths. Instead, after a decade of rising fatal crashes, Tesla with Autopilot are now the unmistakable cause of more death than without.

A 56-year-old Snohomish man had set his Tesla Model S on Autopilot and was looking at his cellphone on Friday when he struck and killed a motorcyclist in front of him in Monroe, court records show.

Are motorcyclists being trained to avoid being killed by a Tesla behind them?

Police say in this case the use of Autopilot is to be charged as vehicular manslaughter.

The trooper cited the driver’s “inattention to driving, while on autopilot mode, and the distraction of the cell phone while moving forward,” and trusting “the machine to drive for him” as probable cause for a charge of vehicular manslaughter, according to the affidavit.

We could have all seen this predictable end back in 2016, which is why back then I described Tesla as the modern Titanic. Despite my warnings, far too many people fell into the fraud.

Five years ago this week [in 2019], Elon Musk stood on stage at Tesla’s Autonomy Week and told the crowd that his company would deliver fully autonomous robotaxis by the following year. “I feel very confident,” he said. “Mark my words.”

2020 was a long time ago in technology terms. Arguably Tesla has only gotten worse since then.