Now imagine making a chart that adds a 100x multiplier to that rocket's data! Only that chart now can be called "skyrocketing" then, because it dwarfs the rocket's original data...
The fact that more "skyrocketing" things exist doesn't invalidate that the word "skyrocketing" could apply to what's presented here, and it does accurately frame the discussion around the sudden, alarming trend of self driving car incidents over time.
The various causes of the data jump/spike/skyrocket/whatever are fairly discussed in the article, and based on what's there it seems reasonable to conclude that there are much more complicated forces at play here other than, "self driving cars bad". The chart illustrates the sudden change, but explicitly tries to provide a number of very different possible explanations for the data.
The fact that more "skyrocketing" things exist doesn't invalidate that the word "skyrocketing" could apply to what's presented here, and it does accurately frame the discussion around the sudden, alarming trend of self driving car incidents over time.
The various causes of the data jump/spike/skyrocket/whatever are fairly discussed in the article, and based on what's there it seems reasonable to conclude that there are much more complicated forces at play here other than, "self driving cars bad". The chart illustrates the sudden change, but explicitly tries to provide a number of very different possible explanations for the data.