Study shows Tesla owners have most car accidents, but Ram has the worst drivers

[midian182]

In context: If you drive a Tesla, you're statistically more likely to be involved in a car accident than drivers of any other car brand, according to new research. In a study that analyzed 30 car brands, it was found that Tesla drivers had 23.54 accidents per thousand drivers. But they weren't the "worst" of the bunch.

LendingTree's study, based on tens of millions of insurance quotes between November 2022 and November 2023, placed Tesla drivers at the top of the most-accident-prone list. Only three brands had more than 20 accidents per 1,000 drivers: Tesla (23.54), Ram (22.76), and Subaru (20.90).

While Tesla drivers were involved in the most accidents, Ram had the worst drivers overall. They were involved in 32.9 incidents (accidents, DUIs, speeding, and citations) per 1,000 drivers, ahead of Tesla (31.13) and Subaru (30.09).

Ram drivers were the worst in 23 states, with Massachusetts seeing the highest number of incidents (64.44) per 1,000 drivers. Tesla drivers had the most incidents in 11 states: Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

At the other end of the table, Mercury was found to have the best drivers, racking up 15.82 incidents per 1,000 drivers nationally. It was followed by Pontiac (16.24) and Saturn (16.84).

Another finding from the study is that BMW drivers have the highest DUI rate: 3.13 DUIs per 1,000 drivers. That's nearly twice as many as second-place Ram (1.72). Meanwhile, Mitsubishi (0.89), Volvo (0.92), and Mercury and Kia drivers (both 0.93) had the lowest DUI rates. Just nine of the 30 brands analyzed had DUI rates below 1.00 among their drivers.

The study doesn't include rentals or examine the cause of vehicle crashes. "It's hard to nail down why certain brands may have higher accident rates than others. However, there are indications that certain types of vehicles attract riskier drivers than others," the study states.

It would be interesting to find out what percentage of Tesla accidents involved the company's Autopilot system. Earlier this month, Tesla and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a recall of every vehicle the company has sold in the US, impacting two million cars. It doesn't require owners to take their vehicles back to the shop, as users will receive an over-the-air update to fix the problem.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/101276-study-shows-tesla-owners-involved-most-accidents-but.html

 

[redgarl]

It s not really linked to the car, but to the type of owners attracted to a specific brand.

- BMW drivers are younger, full of themselves who usually don't care about the others. They own a BMW so they own the road... live fast, die young kind of approach. These professionals need to drive in elegance while going to these afterhours.

- RAM is mainly trucks and their customers are engine enthusiasts. Manly men, so get out of their way. They are usually the ones trying to drive you out of the road when you are in the left line on the highway while trying to pass another vehicle. If they do an accident, they don't care because they will likely survive, but not you.

- Tesla are driven by people who believe in the cause. They know little about cars and have little driving experience. It is one of the brand that attract a lot of female customers.

See, when you dig a little bit, you understand those stats have nothing to do with the brand itself, more the people relating to those brands.

 

[godrilla]

It s not really linked to the car, but to the type of owners attracted to a specific brand.

- BMW drivers are younger, full of themselves who usually don't care about the others. They own a BMW so they own the road... live fast, die young kind of approach. These professionals need to drive in elegance while going to these afterhours.

- RAM is mainly trucks and their customers are engine enthusiasts. Manly men, so get out of their way. They are usually the ones trying to drive you out of the road when you are in the left line on the highway while trying to pass another vehicle. If they do an accident, they don't care because they will likely survive, but not you.

- Tesla are driven by people who believe in the cause. They know little about cars and have little driving experience. It is one of the brand that attract a lot of female customers.

See, when you dig a little bit, you understand those stats have nothing to do with the brand itself, more the people relating to those brands.

My cousin owns the Tesla Y performance is getting triggered from this survey.
"I don’t even believe that for a minute. The self driving itself decreases accents by huge fold. It’s safer than human driving, and it was rated the safest, one of the safest cars in the world."

 

[PEnnn]

"At the other end of the table, Mercury was found to have the best drivers, racking up 15.82 incidents per 1,000 drivers nationally. It was followed by Pontiac (16.24) and Saturn (16.84)."

Well, duh! Relatively speaking, way less people own or drive those cars compared to the other cars on the list

What's next, Citroen / Peugeot / Renault cars and their drivers are the safest / best because hardly anyone has such cars in the US??

 

[nnguy2]

"At the other end of the table, Mercury was found to have the best drivers, racking up 15.82 incidents per 1,000 drivers nationally. It was followed by Pontiac (16.24) and Saturn (16.84)."

Well, duh! Relatively speaking, way less people own or drive those cars compared to the other cars on the list

What's next, Citroen / Peugeot / Renault cars and their drivers are the safest / best because hardly anyone has such cars in the US??

The prevalence is normalized to per 1,000 so it allows you to compares rates of high populations to low populations.

 

[nnguy2]

It s not really linked to the car, but to the type of owners attracted to a specific brand.

- BMW drivers are younger, full of themselves who usually don't care about the others. They own a BMW so they own the road... live fast, die young kind of approach. These professionals need to drive in elegance while going to these afterhours.

See, when you dig a little bit, you understand those stats have nothing to do with the brand itself, more the people relating to those brands.

The demographics of new BMW skews older male from household that makes almost 2x the median American household income:

"The average household income of a new BMW car or SUV buyer is $124,800 per year. To compare that to the US population, the median household income in the United States in 2020 was $67,521.

BMW owner is 56 years old, compared to 38 for the US population. The age groups break down like this:
24 years old and younger: 1%
25 to 54 years of age: 40%
55 to 64 years of age: 29%
65 years old and older: 30%"

More than likely the DUI's are due to businessmen getting drunk going to and from dinners.

https://hedgescompany.com/blog/2019/03/new-bmw-owner-demographics/

 

[JamesBlond]

If your in a Tesla Self Drive and your completely drunk as a skunk can you be fined for being driven while drunk seeing as its still DUI or will they change the law to make Tesla exempt

 

[Nobina]

As a European, I don't even know what RAM is. I thought it was a brand by Dodge, and they make those bulky trucks which are disgusting. I believe cars with the most amount of "help" attract the worst drivers.

 

[arrowflash]

It s not really linked to the car, but to the type of owners attracted to a specific brand.

- BMW drivers are younger, full of themselves who usually don't care about the others. They own a BMW so they own the road... live fast, die young kind of approach. These professionals need to drive in elegance while going to these afterhours.

It's interesting that this also changes depending on the country, even when a brand is available in both countries.

I know that in the US, BMW drivers have a really bad rep, but in my country they tend to be alright. Out of luxury german brands, where I live the worst are by far Mercedes-Benz drivers. Here MB drivers are the ones who tend to drive like maniacs on the road and will tailgate you in the left lane while you're passing a truck, bus or slower car.

 

[OortCloud]

No surprise RAM is at the top. Little men trying to make up for their many inadequacies with some truly awful barn-door engineering.

 

[Aranarth]

Pontiac, Saturn, and Mercury are all defunct.

Either these are old cars or the report is old.

 

[Bobbydpue]

The prevalence is normalized to per 1,000 so it allows you to compares rates of high populations to low populations.

That's still not accurate. None of those three car companies have existed since 2009. The pool of data is very small with those brands, so the data is irrelevant.

 

[nnguy2]

That's still not accurate. None of those three car companies have existed since 2009. The pool of data is very small with those brands, so the data is irrelevant.

So you think those cars just disappear after 2009?

 

[nnguy2]

Pontiac, Saturn, and Mercury are all defunct.

Either these are old cars or the report is old.

So you think all those cars just disappear off the road after 2009?

even one model of Pontiac (Grand Prix) sold over 100,000 in 2005 and 2006

Pontiac Grand Prix Sales Figures

Automotive Sales Data and Statistics

www.goodcarbadcar.net

 

[mgilbert]

Ram drivers have the highest accident rates because their vehicles are mostly large trucks - driveway p*n*ses - and the drivers are ignorant, knuckle dragging, Trump worshipping, aggressive rednecks who think no one is on the road but them. They tailgate, make unsafe lane changes, never signal anything they do, drive with only their parking lights on (stupid!), etc. I see it every day on my commute.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Ram drivers have the highest accident rates because their vehicles are mostly large trucks - driveway p*n*ses - and the drivers are ignorant, knuckle dragging, Trump worshipping, aggressive rednecks who think no one is on the road but them. They tailgate, make unsafe lane changes, never signal anything they do, drive with only their parking lights on (stupid!), etc. I see it every day on my commute.

Except Ford sells three times as many trucks as Ram does and they aren't in the top 10 even. Chevy also sells over double, not in the top 10. It's the people not the type of vehicles, rams are cheaper and more powerful then the base offerings from Ford, Chevy and Toyota, attracts younger men mainly, who have always been more reckless at driving and most can't swing the extra $4,000 - 10,000 for a higher performance option from the larger truck companies.

 

[p51d007]

And Dodge Charger drivers are most likely to take over an intersection, do drifting, wreck & hit someone. (at least from the videos I see).

 

[Farkinell]

It s not really linked to the car, but to the type of owners attracted to a specific brand.

- BMW drivers are younger, full of themselves who usually don't care about the others. They own a BMW so they own the road... live fast, die young kind of approach. These professionals need to drive in elegance while going to these afterhours.

- RAM is mainly trucks and their customers are engine enthusiasts. Manly men, so get out of their way. They are usually the ones trying to drive you out of the road when you are in the left line on the highway while trying to pass another vehicle. If they do an accident, they don't care because they will likely survive, but not you.

- Tesla are driven by people who believe in the cause. They know little about cars and have little driving experience. It is one of the brand that attract a lot of female customers.

See, when you dig a little bit, you understand those stats have nothing to do with the brand itself, more the people relating to those brands.

As a European I cannot believe any “engine enthusiasts”, even in the US, buys those turds based upon their engineering prowess. Turns out there is a replacement for displacement and its called efficiency.

It’s like saying Burger King is popular with Michelin chefs.

 

[mgilbert]

As a European I cannot believe any “engine enthusiasts”, even in the US, buys those turds based upon their engineering prowess. Turns out there is a replacement for displacement and its called efficiency.

It’s like saying Burger King is popular with Michelin chefs.

You clearly don't understand the minds of American rednecks!

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

The study is extremely flawed because it uses insurance data--it will be affected by how willing owners are to file insurance claims. Pontiac, Mercury, and Saturn all went bankrupt in 2010-2011 so why would they report accidents to their insurance if they're trying to save money with old brands? They may not even fix the damage.

Meanwhile Tesla is the second fastest growing brand in the US (from 2018-2022) so its owners have lightly aged vehicles, new car payments, and are likely fine with higher insurance premiums. Those owners are unlikely to want to drive around with a damaged, new car and will get it fixed. Genesis is notably left out of the study (they're the fastest growing brand) along with other new brands such as Rivian and Polestar. Plus, the 3rd fastest growing brand (Porsche) is growing at a tenth of the rate as #2 (Tesla).

EDIT: Apparently the data used in the study is based on insurance quotes, not insurance claims lol. That makes this study even more flawed. As stated by someone commenting on Electrek:

It's the number of accidents the driver said they have in their history in their request for a quote. It's not a reflection of the safety of the vehicles or even of their drivers. This is why the cheap entry-level cars often bought for new drivers have the lowest rates. Drivers with no driving history of course have no accidents in that history.

 

[kiwigraeme]

Not a fan of huge 8 foot high pickups - that have no purpose( owner dependant ) - except more sticker real estate.

But I imagine some of those RAM accidents are fender benders ( well they are so high maybe the tow bar goes through your radiator )

As they are so big and wide - suppose could compare to something like a ford explorer - haven't been to USA for years - so not sure of the huge SUVs models - but did rent an explorer in Maui for family - took a few days to adjust to dimensions

 

[b00ka]

I'm from central Europe and BMW drivers are the worst. I am not kidding when I say I have problems with them daily - no turn signals, illegal turns, ignoring yellow/red lights... you name it. Close second: Golf GTI drivers. This summer was their time to shine.

 

[Uncle Al]

HA! My F-150 is safer than the lot!

 

[FF222]

The study is extremely flawed because it uses insurance data

So, you want to say, that Tesla's numbers might be actually EVEN WORSE then already stated?

 

[scavengerspc]

I have a Ram 2500, and have had many through the years.
I joined a RAM club a long time ago, mostly for parts access for a late 40s Power Wagon I was restoring. But I quit after 4 months.
Some of the biggest a******s on the roads drive a RAM. Even I am not THAT kind of a*****e.

As a European, I don't even know what RAM is.