Tesla's Robotaxi Crashes Four Times In a Single Month

"Tesla's Robotaxis, which CEO Elon Musk promised there will be millions of roaming the streets by next year, have now crashed four times in a single month. According to updated filings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spotted by Electrek, Tesla has reported three more crashes involving its Robotaxis operating in Austin, Texas, bringing it to a total of seven known crashes since the service first launched in late June."

"Four of those happened in September, and all in just the first week - suggesting there may be yet more incidents for us to hear about, whenever Tesla gets around to reporting them. In any case, it's an embarrassing number of crashes to have when you consider the automaker's fleet is limited to just 30 to 40 vehicles, which are geofenced to a relatively small area of a single city."

"Electrek calculated that Tesla's crash rate, as of last month, was about once every 62,500 miles, which is nearly double that of its competitor Waymo. Waymo, by the way, operates over 2,500 robotaxis across several major metropolitan areas, like Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Austin, combining for over 100 million fully autonomous miles. Tesla's Robotaxis aren't clocking any fully autonomous miles at the moment, since all of its cars are supervised by a human "safety monitor" sitting in the driver seat or sitting shotgun."

Updated National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filings show Tesla reported three more Robotaxi crashes in Austin, raising the known total to seven since late June. Four crashes occurred in the first week of September, despite the fleet being limited to roughly 30–40 geofenced vehicles in a single city. The calculated crash rate is about one per 62,500 miles, nearly double Waymo's rate, while Waymo operates over 2,500 robotaxis and more than 100 million fully autonomous miles. Tesla's Robotaxis currently operate with human safety monitors able to intervene, yet collisions and property damage have still occurred, including an animal strike and a bicyclist collision.

Read at Futurism