Team Trump keeps giving Elon Musk everything he wants

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team recently recommended that he scrap a crash-reporting requirement for self-driving cars—which probably has nothing to do with the fact that Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, is a close ally of Trump.

In an internal document obtained by Reuters, Trump’s team described the reporting condition as a mandate for “excessive” data collection and suggested eliminating it. Relatedly, the team also recommended that the incoming Trump administration “liberalize” regulations on automatic vehicles and enact “basic regulations” that would empower more development in the industry.

Supporters of the crash-reporting rule have argued that axing it could hamstring the federal government’s ability to investigate and regulate the safety of automated driving systems. But Tesla and other automakers have long opposed the rule. Musk, for his part, has suggested that the requirement unfairly targets his company’s vehicles. According to sources who spoke with Reuters, Tesla’s executives have discussed with Musk the need to push for scrapping the crash-reporting requirement.

Of course, if Trump’s administration kills this requirement, Tesla would be the new policy’s largest beneficiary. Since June 2021, there have been more than 2,700 crashes among vehicles equipped with self-automated systems, and of those, more than half (1,570) were reported by Tesla, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

Moreover, a Reuters analysis of data from the NHTSA found that Tesla’s crash data accounted for 40 out of the 45 fatal crashes reported to the agency through Oct. 15.

One Tesla accident investigated by the NHTSA was a fatal accident that took place in Virginia in 2023, according to Reuters. In this instance, a driver using Tesla’s “Autopilot” feature collided with a tractor-trailer. The NHTSA also used the data to look into another 2023 wreck, in California, where a Tesla on “Autopilot” struck a firetruck, killing the driver and injuring a passenger and four firefighters.

There could be dire consequences without the crash-reporting rule. In a statement to Reuters, the NHTSA noted collecting this data is critical to evaluating the safety of self-driving cars. Former agency employees also said that such data was imperative to past investigations that led to a recall of more than 2 million Teslas. Without the data, the NHTSA will struggle to detect crash patterns, the former employees said.

Reuters could not assess Musk’s role in drafting this recommendation, if he had one at all. But it’s suspicious timing considering he spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars helping Trump and other Republicans get elected in November, and was recently given a toothless, planned advisory commission on government efficiency—where he’ll seemingly have the freedom to propose slashing even more regulations.