Most of the public information about Tesla’s robotaxi launch comes from a small group of influencers invited by the company to be among those who make the first rides in their new technology. Many have financial interests in the company; Others have built media careers around advertising and cheer of the work of an electric vehicle company. However, some of the videos posted online show the Tesla robotaxis making errors.
One video shows robotaxi Briefly crossing a double-yellow line To drive to next traffic, an apparent attempted attempt to make a left turn. Other shows The human monitor stops the Tesla to avoid UPS truck back into a parking lot. Other shows The car appearing to a “ghost brake” – coming to a sudden and sudden stop for no apparent reason.
Autonomous vehicles are mostly regulated at the state level, and Texas’s current rules give companies a wide bed to test and deploy on its public roads. The US National Highway Traffic Security Administration, the nation’s federal sentinel, can only intervene after technology is already on the roads and proven to be insecure. In an email statement responding to the documented incidents, NHTSA spokesman wrote that the agency “is aware of the reference incidents and contacts the manufacturer to gather more information.”
Legally, autonomous vehicle developers must report some incidental data to the NHTSA, although the Trump administration has Limited the information developers must share and allowed them to shield some of it from public view.
The new Texas law, Senate Bill 2807requires autonomous vehicle companies to obtain operating permissions before they hit public roads. Companies must also provide the state with emergency response procedures for first responders. The law does not start until September 1, Wired asked the Texas Department of Public Security if it received Tesla’s crisis response procedures before the company launched its service on Sunday; The department did not respond.
The state’s new license process is not as intense as the one used by California, which was the first state in the country to create autonomous vehicle testing and deployment rules. But the permit means that Texas regulators can intervene to stop a company to operate on their roads if the company is said to be involved in too many security incidents.
Three other companies –Waymo,, Zamxand AV Ride – Operate in Austin. Waymo is the only one who offers public rides in the city that users can stop using the Uber app.
Eckhardt says she wants Tesla to go through a longer public period of mapping, testing and sharing data before it was launched in Austin. “We need good local and state communication, to ensure that we really perform our public security duties,” she says.
