Automated collision avoidance and driver assistance will help Tesla model 3 drivers avoid 9 out of 10 accidents

Driver-assist hardware and software included in the Model 3 will make the $35,000 car 10 times safer than the average car.

Both Tesla and NHTSA assert that safety is also higher when Autopilot is activated. So, Model 3 customers who upgrade to the full Enhanced Autopilot, which includes automatic lane changes, steering, and parking, the ability to “summon” the vehicle short distances, and more, will likely benefit from even a higher level safety — and this seems to be the safety Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas is referring to in his note to investors.

If Tesla achieves its goal, be an order of magnitude (i.e. 10x) safer than the average car on the road. According to nearly every OEM we talk to, safety is the number 1 determinant of car purchases. Look for safety to be the “ah-hah!” moment for this car due to launch this year … To be clear, we are talking about automated driving (not fully autonomous driving) where the driver has a legal obligation to keep hands on the wheel at all times. The driver is still human… but with a ‘superhuman’ assist.

All new Tesla vehicles now include eight surround cameras with 360-degree visibility and up to 250 meters of range and 12 improved ultrasonic sensors. In addition, Tesla recently released an important and unprecedented update for its forward-facing radar sensor, enabling it to serve as a primary control sensor alongside the company’s vision system — a move Tesla believes will result in “a dramatic improvement in the safety of the vehicle.”
Reducing car crashes by 90%

According to a recent analysis by NHTSA, Tesla is already making substantial progress in safety. The safety organization concluded Tesla Autopilot-equipped vehicles saw crash rates drop by 40% compared to vehicles without the technology. And this was notably a study of vehicles produced before Tesla started rolling out its updated Autopilot hardware in October last year.