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3 days ago
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Bloomberg’s coverage of Tesla’s FSD relies on crash data from November 2023 to raise questions about the system’s safety ahead of the Tesla’s upcoming Cybercab Robotaxi launch. However, report centers on an incident involving FSD v11.4.4 – a version that predates significant technological improvements in Tesla’s autonomous driving capabilities.
The timing of this coverage, coinciding with Tesla’s preparations for its Robotaxi event, raises questions about the publication’s editorial decisions. Rather than examining current FSD performance data, Bloomberg chose to highlight a tragic accident that occurred using outdated software versions.
The crash Bloomberg references began with two human-driven vehicles colliding on an Arizona highway. Initial accident caused multiple vehicles to stop on the roadway, creating a dangerous situation that ultimately led to a fatal incident involving a Tesla Model Y running FSD v11.4.4.
71 year old Johna Story exited her passenger seat and walked onto the highway during direct sunlight conditions. The Tesla, traveling at 65 mph with FSD engaged, struck Story in what became a fatal collision. Human driver, Karl Stock, later told police that “everything happened so fast” and that he had “no place to go to avoid” the stopped vehicles ahead.
This incident represents a cascade of failures starting with the initial human-driven crash. Without that first collision, the subsequent stopping of vehicles – and Story’s decision to walk onto the highway – wouldn’t have occurred.
The fundamental issue with Bloomberg’s analysis lies in its focus on outdated technology. FSD v11 underwent a complete architectural rewrite in subsequent versions, with FSD v12, V13, representing substantial improvements in AI processing and decision-making capabilities.
Current FSD versions demonstrate enhanced ability to recognize traffic patterns and respond to warning signals. Dashcam footage Bloomberg published actually contains multiple visual cues that newer FSD systems would likely process differently – including other vehicles braking, hazard lights on the shoulder, and stopped cars with people waving.
Tesla’s FSD has accumulated approximately 4 billion miles of driving data. Based on U.S. traffic fatality rates of roughly one death per 100 million miles driven, statistical models would predict 40 fatalities during FSD operation if the system performed at human-level safety.
Instead, only two fatalities have occurred while FSD was engaged – representing a 95% reduction in expected fatal crashes.
Bloomberg’s assertion that Tesla’s camera-based approach can’t handle sunlight glare contradicts the evidence from their own published footage. Dashcam video shows multiple warning indicators that advanced vision systems should detect, including vehicle behavior patterns and roadside signals.
Competing systems like Waymo that incorporate LIDAR and radar haven’t demonstrated highway operation with paying customers, making direct comparisons speculative. Tesla’s vision-only approach operates on highways today, actively preventing crashes in real-world conditions.
The publication of this story ahead of Tesla’s Robotaxi launch appears strategically timed to influence public perception of the company’s autonomous driving capabilities. Using crash data from FSD v11 – rather than examining recent performance metrics – suggests a predetermined narrative rather than objective analysis.
If vision-based systems truly struggled with sunlight conditions as Bloomberg implies, recent examples using current FSD versions would be readily available. The reliance on outdated software versions undermines the report’s relevance to Tesla’s current technological capabilities.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology continues evolving rapidly, with each iteration demonstrating improved safety performance. While no system can prevent every tragic accident, the statistical evidence shows FSD dramatically reduces crash rates compared to human drivers alone.
Perhaps Bloomberg should focus on the crashes that don’t happen rather than trying to make yesterday’s software today’s Full Self-Driving headline.
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