Tesla Robotaxis: 22 Collisions in 12 Months - Motorhead

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Tesla Robotaxis: 22 Collisions in 12 Months<br>Over half of the incidents appear to be the fault of Tesla's FSD software, even with safety drivers in front and remote drivers teleoperating.

Motorhead<br>Jul 19, 2026<br>∙ Paid

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Data released this week from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that Tesla’s so-called Robotaxis in Texas recorded 22 collisions in just under 12 months, half of which occurred in the past 6 months.<br>Tesla “Robotaxis” added 4 crashes in the last 30 days, with the following headlines, with zero media reports:

1) Two Minor injuries (1 hospitalized).<br>2) 18 property damages.<br>3) 12 at-fault crashes (55% of total).<br>4) Three tow-aways and Half of all crashes in the 6 months through mid-June.<br>Figure 1: Human Drivers Are 3.5x Safer Than Tesla Robotaxis

Source: NHTSA & MH research.<br>Great article by the Austin American-Statesman about how unsafe robotaxis and Waymos are, and how fed up Austin residents are (link here).<br>Here are the noteworthy points about this week’s Tesla Robotaxi report, all of which include safety drivers in the front passenger seat, as well as 3 incidents with “teleoperators” helping out:

Teleoperation intervention has a 100% collision rate in this sample<br>Every incident where a remote operator took control—(13781-15395, 14043, & 11459—ended in contact with an object. Small sample, but notable given robotaxi safety claims rest partly on remote-assist as a safety net rather than a source of incidents.<br>Backing-Up Crashes May Be Tesla FSD’s Fault<br>Incident 13781-15400 (truck backed into stopped ADS), 13781-15342 (SUV backed into stopped ADS), and 13781-11784 (car backed into ADS) — are 3 separate incidents where another vehicle backed into a stationary Tesla robotaxi.<br>Robotaxi Rear-Ended While Stopped 5 of 22 (23%). 13781-15017, 14631, 14630, 11507, 11375—all classic “ADS stationary/creeping, human driver behind fails to stop” pattern. This mirrors the “not at fault” framing that shows up in Tesla’s Level 2 ADAS data, too.

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