Newly unredacted knowledge from the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) suggests at the least two Tesla robotaxi crashes which have occurred since July 2025 occurred whereas automobiles had been being remotely pushed by teleoperators, TechCrunch stories. All self-driving automotive firms are alleged to report crashes to the NHTSA, however up till this level Tesla has requested the regulators to redact parts of its knowledge to guard confidential enterprise data.
Each crashes occurred in Austin, Texas, the place Tesla first began providing robotaxi rides in June 2025, and each occurred whereas a security monitor was behind the wheel and no passengers had been onboard. In a single July 2025 crash, TechCrunch writes, after a security monitor requested help, a distant operator took over, elevated the pace of the robotaxi after which drove it “up the curb and made contact with a metallic fence.” In one other from January 2026, a distant operator assumed management and “made contact with a brief barricade for a building website at roughly 9MPH.”
Tesla first shared with lawmakers that it permits distant operators to drive its robotaxis in March 2025. Whereas different autonomous driving providers depend on distant monitoring, these distant employees are sometimes consulting with the driving software program, not driving the vehicles themselves. Not all of Tesla’s crashes have concerned teleoperators. TechCrunch noticed two crashes the place Tesla robotaxis by accident clipped mirrors on different automobiles. In a separate occasion, a robotaxi was unable to keep away from hitting a canine that bumped into the road. Fortunately, the canine survived.
Based mostly on a current Reuters report, the robotaxi service can be struggling to beat lengthy wait occasions. “A reporter utilizing the service in Dallas on a current Monday afternoon spent almost two hours to take what sometimes could be a 20-minute drive from the campus of Southern Methodist College to Dallas Metropolis Corridor, about 5 miles (8.05 km) south on a significant freeway,” Reuters writes. Reporters additionally famous a number of situations the place robotaxis would drop off riders quarter-hour away from their vacation spot, regardless of their desired drop-off level being in Tesla’s protection space.
Tesla will not be distinctive in having to take care of crashes and software program points. Waymo has or is actively coping with each. However the continued issues do counsel Tesla may have an extended option to go earlier than it is working on the scale of its competitor.
