Self-driving vehicles are sometimes marketed as safer than human drivers, however new knowledge suggests that will not at all times be the case.
Citing knowledge from the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA), Electrek reports that Tesla disclosed 5 new crashes involving its robotaxi fleet in Austin. The brand new knowledge raises issues about how secure Tesla’s techniques actually are in comparison with the typical driver.
Tesla reported the crashes final month, masking incidents from December 2025 and January. All 5 concerned Tesla Mannequin Y autos working in Austin with autonomous driving techniques engaged.
The incidents included a collision with a hard and fast object at 17 miles per hour, a crash with a bus whereas the Tesla car was stopped, a crash with a truck at 4 miles per hour, and two circumstances the place Tesla autos backed into fastened objects at low speeds.
Electrek additionally reviews that Tesla has now submitted knowledge for 14 whole crashes for the reason that robotaxi service started working in Austin final June. Based mostly on Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings report, which confirmed the fleet reached roughly 700,000 cumulative paid miles by way of November, the outlet estimates the fleet doubtless surpassed 800,000 miles by mid-January. With 14 crashes in that point interval, that comes out to roughly one crash each 57,000 miles.
Even by Tesla’s personal metrics, that’s not nice.
Tesla’s Automobile Security Report claims the typical U.S. driver experiences a minor crash every 229,000 miles and a significant collision each 699,000 miles. By that comparability, Tesla’s robotaxi fleet seems to be crashing at a price roughly 4 occasions larger than the typical driver.
Tesla additionally seems much less clear than its opponents in relation to crash reporting. Not like Waymo and Zoox, Tesla has redacted the incident narratives for every crash within the NHTSA database, citing “confidential enterprise info.”
Moreover, Electrek reviews that Tesla up to date a crash report from July that was initially filed as “property harm solely” and now lists the incident as “Minor w/ Hospitalization,” indicating somebody later required hospital remedy.
Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Gizmodo.
The EV big isn’t the one firm dealing with scrutiny over its self-driving techniques.
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration not too long ago opened a probe right into a January incident wherein a Waymo robotaxi struck a baby close to a Santa Monica elementary college throughout drop-off hours.
In saying the investigation, NHTSA’s Workplace of Defects Investigation mentioned it might study whether or not Waymo “exercised applicable warning” given the car’s proximity to a college and the presence of younger pedestrians. Final month, the company additionally launched a separate probe after reviews that Waymo autos did not cease for varsity buses.
