Tesla Robotaxis Caused Zero Crashes in Latest NHTSA Data

Image: Tesla

Tesla’s Model Y robotaxi fleet got through the mid-June to mid-July reporting window without causing a single crash, according to newly released NHTSA data flagged Monday by Tesla investor and commentator Sawyer Merritt.

Two incidents involving the fleet turn up in the filing, and in both of them the collision was started by a human driver in another vehicle.

The first happened in Austin, where a robotaxi sat stopped at a red left arrow in a left-turn-only lane. An SUV behind it signalled right and moved into the adjacent straight-through lane, struck the side of a passenger vehicle already travelling straight, then hit the right side of the robotaxi.

The second was in Dallas where a robotaxi was parked on the right side of an alleyway when a vehicle parked to its right reversed into it. Tesla’s narrative for both reads “There were no passengers.”

The caveats worth keeping

These numbers come from Tesla’s own filings under NHTSA’s Standing General Order, which requires anyone running an automated driving system on public roads to report crashes. The data is self-reported, though the same rule covers Waymo, Zoox and every other operator.

Fleet size shapes the result too. Tesla’s robotaxi footprint stays small next to Waymo’s even after the network added Orlando and Tampa and launched in Miami, and Waymo accounts for the bulk of the roughly 800 incidents in the federal dataset. A clean month reads differently against a few dozen active cars than it would against a few thousand.

Earlier batches were messier. Filings released through July included a remote operator putting a robotaxi into a tree stump in Houston, plus separate incidents where the system drove into metal chains blocking parking lot entrances.

The data lands as Tesla prepares to put the Cybercab itself into service, with a public launch in Austin reportedly coming this month.