These cars and brands have the highest death rates in the U.S.

While Tesla continues to promote its cars as the safest on the road, a new study appears to suggest that the company’s vehicles may not be as invincible as they are marketed to be. Findings provided by iSeeCars show that while Tesla models perform well in crash tests, they actually lead the country in fatal crash rates. But is it the car, or the driver?

Fatal Accident Rate: Surprising Results

The iSeeCars study analyzed death data from the U.S. Death Analysis Reporting System between 2017 and 2022. The study found that the average fatality rate for Tesla vehicles was 5.6 people per billion miles driven. To put that into perspective, that’s higher than brands like Kia (5.5), Buick (4.8) and Dodge (4.4), and nearly double the industry average of 2.9 fatalities per billion miles. That’s hard to reconcile with Tesla’s brand, where safety is practically a religion and ergonomics…well, they’re still waiting their turn.

Read: Tesla’s new safety data claims Autopilot can make you 8 times safer (maybe)

But before you accuse Elon of exaggerating the safety credentials of his cars, there’s a problem. Analysts at iSeeCars said high fatality rates “reflect driver behavior as much, if not more, than vehicle design”. In short, it’s the drivers, not necessarily the technology behind the scenes, that may be skewing these numbers.

Highest mortality rate: top contender

iSeeCars also compiled a list of the 23 cars with the highest fatality rates, but the results aren’t entirely reassuring. Topping the list are small Hyundai venues, with an average of 13.9 fatalities per billion miles driven, nearly five times the industry average.

Rounding out the top five were the Chevrolet Corvette and Mitsubishi Mirage (both 13.6), the Porsche 911 (13.2) and the Honda CR-V Hybrid (13.2). Tesla also showed up, with the Model Y ranking sixth with 10.6 deaths per billion miles. Rounding out the top ten are the Mitsubishi Mirage G4, Buick Encore GX, Kia Forte and Buick Envision.

Karl Brauer, the study’s lead analyst, noted that many of the vehicles on the death list, including the Tesla Model Y, performed well in crash tests and received excellent ratings. So it’s not that Teslas are inherently unsafe, but they could be in the wrong hands. Risky behavior, inattention, or overreliance on autopilot may lead to increased mortality.

“The majority of these vehicles earn excellent safety ratings and perform well in IIHS and NHTSA crash tests, so this is not a vehicle design issue,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “The models on this list may reflect “The combination of driver behavior and driving conditions results in increased crashes and fatalities.”

Size Matters: The Physics

It’s also worth noting that subcompact and compact cars top the fatality charts, while midsize and large cars are well below the industry average. Why? Well, it’s just basic physics: When a small car collides with a large car, the smaller car fails. Sometimes, especially in the United States, it’s not the safety of your car that matters, it’s the laws of the universe.

Cars with the most frequent occupant deaths

SUVs most frequently involved in fatal accidents