Texas Lawmakers Want More Control of the Tesla Robotaxis on Their Roads

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 to take the first rides in its new technology. Many have financial stakes in the company; others have built media careers around promoting and cheerleading the electric-vehicle company’s work. Still, some of the videos posted online show the Tesla robotaxis making mistakes.

One video shows a robotaxi briefly crossing a double-yellow line to drive into oncoming traffic, an apparent botched attempt to make a left turn. Another shows the human monitor stopping the Tesla to avoid a UPS truck backing into a parking spot. Another shows the car appearing to “phantom brake”—coming to a sudden and abrupt stop for no apparent reason.

Autonomous vehicles are mostly regulated on the state level, and Texas’ current rules give companies wide berth to test and deploy on its public roads. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the nation’s federal road safety watchdog, can only intervene after the technology is already on the roads and proven to be unsafe. In an emailed statement responding to the documented incidents, a NHTSA spokesperson wrote that the agency “is aware of the referenced incidents and is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information.”

By law, autonomous vehicle developers must report some incident data to the NHTSA, though the Trump administration has limited the information developers are required to share and allowed them to shield some of it from public view.

The new Texas law, Senate Bill 2807, requires autonomous vehicle companies to obtain operating permits before they hit public roads. Firms also have to provide the state with emergency response procedures for first responders. The law doesn’t kick in until September 1. WIRED asked the Texas Department of Public Safety whether it received Tesla’s emergency response procedures before the company launched its service on Sunday; the department did not respond.

The state’s new permit process is not nearly as intensive 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 does mean that Texas regulators can intervene to stop a company from operating on its roads if the company is deemed to be involved in too many safety incidents.

Three other companies—Waymo, Zoox, and AV Ride—operate in Austin. Waymo is the only one to offer public rides in the city, which users can hail through the Uber app.

Eckhardt says she wishes Tesla went through a longer public period of mapping, testing, and data sharing before it launched in Austin. “We need good local and state communication, to make sure that we really are meeting our public safety obligations,” she says.