Tesla's safety claims under scrutiny

A DOT push to purge “woke safety” removes guidance on bike lanes, road diets, speed cameras, and pedestrian/bike info, while debate erupts over measuring deaths per capita vs per miles traveled. NHTSA’s 2027 five-star test list shrinks sharply, blamed on a tiny NCAP budget and new pedestrian tests, raising worries that big trucks/SUVs may be dodging bad scores. Memphis “stroads” show how deadly high-speed urban roads get when crossings are scarce. Tesla’s Roadster hype and “full self-driving” crashes (including a driver asleep) collide with weak driver monitoring, while Waymo’s “10x safer” claim and conflicted research get roasted. Headlight glare and delayed adaptive-beam rules surface, followed by recalls from Hyundai, Toyota, Chrysler, and Ford.

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• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/13/sean-duffy-transportation-deadly-roads
• https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/model-year-2027-vehicle-testing-5-star-safety-ratings
• https://www.wsj.com/us-news/the-deadly-1-5-mile-corridor-that-shows-the-fatal-flaw-in-americas-road-design-8f424579
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/10/16/elon-musk-flying-roadster-shows-beauty-impractical-innovation/
• https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/what-teslas-flying-roadster-really-means-for-the-global-auto-race-0ede8702
• https://electrek.co/2026/10/16/tesla-fsd-crash-chp-patrol-car-driver-asleep-fairfield/
• https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/five-years-2-million-recalls-still-hitting-police-cars-the-fatal-flaw-inside-teslas-fsd/
• https://basin.la/articles/the-cars-that-hit-it.html
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15389588.2026.2695421

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