Image: Tesla Robotaxi/X
U.S. safety regulators have opened a defect petition review into claims that Tesla’s driverless robotaxis go faster than the posted limit in active school zones, according to a public NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation resume.
The case is labeled DP26010 and was opened on October 9, 2026. It covers model-year 2026 Tesla Robotaxis, both the Model Y and the Cybercab, when the Automated Driving System is engaged. NHTSA estimates the population at about 1,000 vehicles.
ODI received the petition on September 23. The unnamed petitioner alleges the system “exceeds posted speed limits in active school zones” and submitted three video links as evidence. The resume lists four related incidents in total: one complaint filed with ODI and three social media reports included in the petition. It records no crashes, injuries, or fatalities.
Opening a defect petition is the first step on NHTSA’s ladder, not a recall and not yet a formal Preliminary Evaluation. The agency says it opened the file “to evaluate the allegations and determine whether to grant or deny the petition,” and it points readers to the petition itself under ODI number 11766676. Federal law generally gives NHTSA 120 days from filing to decide, which from September 23 lands around late January 2027.
The review lands while Tesla is scaling unsupervised robotaxi service. The company has already grown its Austin Cybercab fleet past 300, and NHTSA is separately pressing Tesla for sworn answers on how the no-steering-wheel Cybercab was certified under Audit Query AQ26002, with those responses due October 30.
The resume does not name cities, speeds, dates, or which videos were submitted, and it does not say whether Tesla has responded. NHTSA has not found a defect. Tesla has not publicly addressed DP26010 as of midday Monday PT.
For privately owned cars on FSD Supervised, the driver is still responsible for school-zone limits. This petition, as written, targets robotaxi vehicles running the Automated Driving System without a human driver behind the wheel.
Will NHTSA grant a full investigation, or close the petition after reviewing the footage?
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