Tesla' s ' Safest Car' Claims Not Backed Up By Safety Board CarBuzz News Features New Cars Used Cars Sell My Car Shopping Tools Car Reviews Car Finder Compare Cars Best Cars Car Dealerships Used Car Reviews Car Advice Home News Tesla' s ' Safest Car' Claims Not Backed Up By Safety Board

Tesla' s ' Safest Car' Claims Not Backed Up By Safety Board

Oct. 12, 2018 2:40 PM ET by John Tallodi / 2 Comments The NHTSA has laid down the law about how to interpret their results. There's no doubt that the Model 3 is a very safe car, it achieved the highest possible five-star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in all categories. However, Tesla's claim that it is the safest car ever tested may not be quite as clear-cut. According to a statement issued by the NHTSA, it specified that its crash tests combine into an overall safety rating and it does not rank vehicles that score the same ratings. They did not happen to single out Tesla, but the statement did come out only days after Tesla had released a blog claiming that the Model 3 achieved the lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by the NHTSA. The data quoted by Tesla as posted on its website has been gleaned from the NHTSA injury data stats that it compiles each year. According to those figures the top three spots are clearly occupied by the Model 3, S and X. There are also videos comparing the crash performance of the Model 3 to a number of similarly sized sedans, however drawing a definitive conclusion from these without having in-depth knowledge of the testing procedures is unlikely to be very accurate. Aside from the Model 3, there have been a number of five-star rated cars this year, including the Toyota Camry, Ford Mustang and the Honda Accord. The statement went further by saying that the NHTSA does not distinguish safety performance beyond a five-star rating there is no 'safest' vehicle among those vehicles achieving the highest measured results. It also warned about using terms such as 'perfect' to describe the overall score. It seems then that Tesla has applied their own interpretation to the NHTSA testing procedures. In Tesla's defence though, there is clearly a grey area that the NHTSA needs to shed some light on. Its ratings may only go to a five-star level, but it is quite logical to assume that not every car with this rating will have performed identically across the board. Its own data alludes to this very fact.

Join The Discussion

Show Comments (2)

Gallery

11 Photos Tags: #Tesla News #Crash #Industry News

Related Cars

Tesla Model 3 Tesla Model S Performance Tesla Model X LoginSign Up Home News Features Car Reviews Car Advice 2021 CarBuzz Awards New Cars Used Cars Future Cars Compare Cars Sell My Car Car Dealerships Buy Here Pay Here Used Car Reviews Popular Tags Cars # Video # TOP # Spy Shots # Reveal # Rumor # Auto Show # Supercar # Tuning # Car Culture # Industry News # Motorsport Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bollinger Bugatti Buick Cadillac Caterham Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Genesis GMC Hennessey Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Karma Kia Koenigsegg Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lordstown Lotus Lucid Motors Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Pagani Polestar Porsche Ram Rimac Rivian Rolls-Royce Spyker Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo By Make Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bollinger Bugatti Buick Cadillac Caterham Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Genesis GMC Hennessey Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Karma Kia Koenigsegg Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lordstown Lotus Lucid Motors Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Pagani Polestar Porsche Ram Rimac Rivian Rolls-Royce Spyker Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo By Car Type SUVs Crossovers Sedans Coupes Trucks Sports Cars Wagons Vans Hatchbacks Convertibles Small Cars Luxury Cars Electric Cars Hybrid Cars Future Cars By Price Up to $15K $15K - $25K $25K - $35K $35K - $45K $45K - $55K $55K - $75K $75K - $100K $100K - $200K $200K - $300K Above $300K Back To Top