Overview
- Texas’s Department of Motor Vehicles published a public tracker on May 28 that lists Waymo with 577 authorized robotaxis in the state and Tesla with 42, revealing a large gap in registered fleet size.
- SAE level 4 means a vehicle can drive without a human in defined conditions, and the new law requires companies to declare that capability rather than undergo independent validation.
- NHTSA records show 17 incidents involving Tesla’s Austin fleet between July 2025 and April 2026, including two minor injuries and one hospitalization, with human safety supervisors reported on board during those events.
- Waymo reports a much larger national commercial fleet of about 4,000 vehicles and has paused service in some Texas cities over how its cars handle flooded roads, showing even bigger operators face operational limits tied to weather and environment.
- Tesla has expanded its Texas pilot since June 2025 and filed driverless testing permits in Arizona, Nevada and Florida, but it has not launched paid driverless rides outside Texas, and the DMV data could prompt closer regulatory checks and public scrutiny.