In July, Tesla reported three different crashes involving the brand’s Model Y-based Robotaxis to the National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration (NHTSA). Last month, another incident occurred, bringing the total to four crashes of Tesla’s driverless cars, and one incident involving a person with minor injuries. The Robotaxi fleet is tiny – only around 12 cars are in operation – and as of the first three accidents, it had just a few months of service in one location: Austin, Texas.
Robotaxis Keep Crashing
Three of the incidents, including the one this past September, list “Property Damage” as the sole result of the crash. However, a fourth states there were “minor” injuries, treated without hospitalization. The details on these reports are scarce. The make and model of the vehicle involved, whether its automated driving system was active at the time of the crash, what it collided with, the weather, applicable injuries or damage, and what type of roadway are all disclosed within a few words each.
In September’s incident, a Model Y in a parking lot collided with a fixed object, resulting in property damage. The car’s self-driving software was engaged. Tesla also stations operators in the car with the ability to take over or kill the car at the push of a button. Tesla also does not have to disclose how often operators intervene.
Tesla Often Underreports Crashes
Tesla reports the bare minimum to the NHTSA, frequently redacting information on its crashes. This is in contrast to autonomous taxi providers like Waymo, which frequently discloses the narrative circumstances surrounding their taxi’s incidents. Tesla, inversely, doesn’t share whether the car’s systems were disengaged and when, or when someone had to intervene with the system to prevent a crash. The general public doesn’t have access to the service either. Only close Tesla allies, like influencers and shareholders, can ride in the taxis. Musk says that’s going to change soon, or did at the time of the service’s launch. The Tesla CEO promised that by the end of the year, monitors would be removed and the taxis would become truly driverless. But with a crash rate this high, should they?
