Remote operator drives Tesla Robotaxi into fence in Austin
In July 2025, weeks after Tesla's Robotaxi service began in Austin, a remote operator who took over a stalled vehicle drove it over a curb and into a metal fence, Tesla told NHTSA.
Key facts
- Tesla reported to NHTSA that in July 2025 a teleoperator took control of a stopped Robotaxi in Austin and drove it up a curb and into a metal fence.
- A safety monitor was in the vehicle and no passengers were on board, according to Tesla's report.
- NHTSA's data lists the highest injury severity for the crash as minor, without hospitalization, and a pre-crash speed of 8 mph.
- Electrek counted 17 Tesla Robotaxi crashes reported to NHTSA in Austin from July 2025 through March 2026, two of them with a remote operator in control.
- Tesla's crash narratives were redacted in NHTSA's public data until Tesla filed updated reports in March 2026.
What happened
According to a crash report Tesla filed with NHTSA, a Tesla Robotaxi was stopped on the right side of a street in Austin, Texas, at about 12:20 p.m. on a day in July 2025 and was not moving forward. The safety monitor riding in the vehicle asked for remote support.
A teleoperator took over control of the vehicle, gradually increased its speed and steered left toward the opposite side of the street. The vehicle was driven up the curb and struck a metal fence. NHTSA’s data lists a pre-crash speed of 8 mph. No passengers were in the vehicle. The report lists the highest alleged injury severity as minor, without hospitalization.
The system involved
The vehicle was a Tesla Model Y operating in Tesla’s Robotaxi ride-hail service in Austin, which launched in June 2025. At the time, each vehicle carried a Tesla safety monitor, and remote teleoperators could take control when a vehicle needed help. Tesla reports crashes involving the service to NHTSA as automated driving system incidents under the agency’s Standing General Order.
Investigation and response
Tesla reported the crash to NHTSA under Standing General Order 2021-01. For months, Tesla’s narratives in the public data were withheld as confidential business information. In March 2026 Tesla filed updated versions that made the narratives public; the updated report for this crash also corrected earlier entries that had wrongly indicated an airbag deployment and a tow.
Electrek reviewed the newly public narratives in May 2026 and counted 17 crashes in Austin between July 2025 and March 2026, including a second remote-operator crash in January 2026 in which a vehicle hit a construction barricade. Many of the other reports describe the Tesla being struck while stopped. NHTSA’s dataset, as downloaded on November 14, 2026, also contains later Tesla reports from Austin, Dallas, Houston and Tampa. No recall or NHTSA enforcement action tied to this specific crash was found.
What is not established
NHTSA’s public data redacts the exact date and street location. The report does not say who was injured. All details come from Tesla’s own filing; no police report or independent account was found.
Outcomes
- Tesla reported the crash to NHTSA under Standing General Order 2021-01 and initially withheld the narrative as confidential.
- In March 2026 Tesla filed updated reports that made its crash narratives public.