There's been a whopping 736 Tesla crashes involving Autopilot mode and 17 deaths since 2019, report finds

Tesla’s Autopilot mode is a driver-assisted technology available to Tesla owners. Laguna Beach Police Department via AP

• 736 crashes of Teslas with Autopilot have occurred since 2019, a Washington Post analysis found.
• Seventeen people died in the accidents, the report found.
• One safety expert says the increase is likely related to the expanded rollout of “Full Self Driving” technology. 

A new analysis has discovered a high number of crashes involving Tesla vehicles in Autopilot mode.

The Washington Post says it analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and found that 736 US crashes of vehicles using the driver-assistance technology had occurred since 2019, a lot more than previously reported.

At least 17 people have died in those crashes, the paper says.

Safety expert Missy Cummings, director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center at George Mason University, told the Post that a likely reason for the increase is the expanded use of Tesla’s so-called Full Self Driving technology, which drivers have been beta-testing on city streets.

Safety experts recently told Insider that Tesla’s $15,000 system is falling far short of delivering on the carmaker’s promise of vehicles that can drive themselves, and that the technology is prone to making mistakes.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. The automaker has said that its automation technology requires that the human driver monitor the vehicle and remain in control at all times.