Tesla Robotaxis have crashed not less than twice since July 2025 whereas a teleoperator was remotely driving the autos, in line with newly unredacted data submitted to the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA).
Each crashes occurred in Austin, Texas, and occurred at low speeds. In every case, there was a security monitor behind the wheel and no passengers have been onboard.
The brand new data comes only a few months after Tesla told lawmakers that it permits distant operators to pilot one of many firm’s autos so long as they keep below 10 miles per hour. “This functionality permits Tesla to promptly transfer a automobile that could be in a compromising place, thereby mitigating the necessity to watch for a primary responder or Tesla area consultant to manually get better the automobile,” the corporate stated on the time.
Tesla, like different firms engaged on autonomous automobile expertise, is required to submit detailed details about any crashes to the NHTSA. In contrast to most of these different firms, although, Tesla had at all times redacted the descriptions of its crashes, claiming they have been confidential enterprise data.
It’s not clear why, however Tesla modified course this week, and the most recent model of the info launched by the NHTSA now supplies a story description for all 17 crashes Tesla has recorded since final 12 months with its nascent Robotaxi community.
In July 2025, shortly after Tesla first began working the community in Austin, the corporate’s automated driving system (ADS) apparently had bother transferring ahead whereas stopped on a avenue. The protection monitor requested assist from Tesla’s distant help crew, and a teleoperator “took over automobile management and progressively elevated automobile pace and turned the Tesla ADS left towards the left aspect of the road.”
The teleoperator then drove “up the curb and made contact with a metallic fence.”
The same sequence performed out in January 2026. The Tesla ADS was driving the automobile straight on a avenue, when the protection monitor “requested help to help with automobile navigation.”
“The teleoperator took over automobile management when the ADS was stopped and proceeded straight on the road. The Tesla automobile made contact with a short lived barricade for a development web site at roughly 9MPH, scraping the front-left fender and tire,” in line with the info submitted to the NHTSA.
Just like different autonomous automobile firms like Waymo, a lot of the different newly unredacted crashes contain Tesla Robotaxi autos being crashed into as an alternative of inflicting crashes.
However not less than two of them contain a Tesla Robotaxi clipping its mirrors on different autos. In a single crash, from September 2025, the Tesla ADS was unable to keep away from hitting a canine that bumped into the road. (Tesla reported the canine was in a position to run away.)
In one other September 2025 crash, a Tesla Robotaxi made an unprotected left flip right into a parking zone and ran right into a metallic chain. (The NHTSA not too long ago closed an investigation into the occasional tendency of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software program to crash into parking zone bollards, chains, and gates. Waymo additionally issued a recall final 12 months associated to the same drawback.)
Whereas different robotaxi firms like Waymo and Zoox have reported extra crashes than Tesla, Elon Musk’s firm is working at a fraction of the dimensions. The small print that have been revealed this week within the newly unredacted knowledge could assist clarify why Tesla is scaling up its nascent autonomous ride-hailing community so slowly. Musk himself admitted last month that “ensuring issues are fully protected” is the most important limiting issue to Tesla increasing the community, saying the corporate is being “very cautious.”
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