Overview
- NHTSA’s public database now includes narrative details for 17 Tesla robotaxi crashes after the company stopped redacting its submissions.
- The records describe at least two Austin incidents where a teleoperator took control and drove into a fence and a construction barricade at about 8 to 9 mph with a safety monitor onboard and no passengers.
- In the July 2025 case the remote driver went up a curb into a metal fence, and the safety monitor reported minor injuries, while the January 2026 case involved contact with a temporary barricade and vehicle scraping.
- Tesla told lawmakers it allows remote piloting only below 10 mph to move stuck cars, which helps explain why the remote-control crashes were low speed.
- Other entries note low-speed contacts such as clipped mirrors, a parking-lot chain strike, and contact with a dog, and researchers warn that remote driving can suffer from limited visibility and signal lag.