"The first crash took place in July 2025, shortly after Tesla launched its nascent Robotaxi network in Austin. The ADS reportedly struggled to move forward while stopped on a street. A teleoperator assumed control, gradually accelerating and turning left toward the roadside. The vehicle then mounted the curb and struck a metal fence."
"In the second incident, in January 2026, the ADS was traveling straight when the safety monitor requested navigation support. The teleoperator took over from a stop, continued forward, and collided with a temporary construction barricade at approximately 9 mph, scraping the front-left fender and tire."
"Tesla has previously told lawmakers that teleoperators are authorized to pilot vehicles remotely-but only at speeds below 10 mph, as the only maneuvers they were approved to perform were repositioning in awkward areas. "This capability enables Tesla to promptly move a vehicle that may be in a compromising position, thereby mitigating the need to wait for a first responder or Tesla field representative to manually recover the vehicle," the company stated in filings earlier this year."
"Before this week, Tesla redacted the NHTSA reports, but they decided to reveal all 17 Robotaxi incidents recorded since the launch in Austin last Summer. Most of the other crashes involved the Tesla being struck by other road users and were not caused by the self-driving suite itself."
Tesla disclosed two low-speed Robotaxi crashes in Austin involving teleoperators steering the vehicle. The July 2025 incident occurred shortly after the Robotaxi network launch, when the automated driving system struggled to move forward while stopped. A teleoperator took over, gradually accelerated, turned left toward the roadside, mounted the curb, and struck a metal fence. The January 2026 incident involved the automated driving system traveling straight when a safety monitor requested navigation support. A teleoperator took over from a stop, continued forward, and collided with a temporary construction barricade at about 9 mph, scraping the front-left fender and tire. Tesla previously limited teleoperator remote piloting to under 10 mph for repositioning maneuvers.
Read at TESLARATI
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