Tesla Robotaxis in Austin, Texas, crashed nine times between July and November 2025, according to an analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports and Tesla's fourth-quarter 2025 earnings data by Electrek. The incidents occurred over roughly 500,000 miles driven, resulting in one crash every 55,000 miles. This rate exceeds human drivers' averages by three to nine times, even with safety monitors present in every vehicle. Waymo, by contrast, has logged over 125 million fully driverless miles with crash rates below human benchmarks, sources indicate.
Crash Data Breakdown
Electrek analyzed NHTSA Standing General Order reports, which mandate disclosure of crashes involving automated driving systems within five days. Tesla's Robotaxi service, launched in late June 2025 in a geofenced area of Austin, qualifies as an automated driving system under NHTSA rules. The vehicles involved were all Model Ys, and safety monitors occupied the passenger seat with access to a killswitch, as required by Texas law.
The nine crashes spanned various scenarios:
- In November 2025, a Robotaxi collided during a right turn.
- In October 2025, an incident occurred at 18 mph.
- In September 2025, one vehicle hit an animal at 27 mph; another collided with a cyclist; a third experienced a rear collision while backing at 6 mph; and a fourth hit a fixed object in a parking lot.
- In July 2025, incidents included a collision with an SUV in a construction zone; hitting a fixed object at 8 mph, causing minor injury; and a right turn collision with an SUV.
Tesla reported approximately 500,000 cumulative Robotaxi miles by November 2025, based on a chart in its Q4 2025 earnings released in January 2026. Earlier media accounts, such as those from Mashable and the Austin American-Statesman, cited only four crashes since September 2025. Updated NHTSA data through November revealed the full tally of nine, indicating an initial escalation followed by fewer incidents—one each in October and November.
Human drivers average one police-reported crash every 500,000 miles, according to NHTSA estimates. Including unreported incidents, the rate rises to about one every 200,000 miles. Tesla's 55,000-mile interval falls well short, despite the presence of monitors whose role includes preventing crashes.
Waymo provides a counterpoint. The company operates without safety monitors and has accumulated over 125 million autonomous miles. Its crash rates remain below human averages, per company disclosures. In a recent Santa Monica incident, a Waymo vehicle hit a child but braked from 17 mph to under 6 mph, outperforming what models suggest a human driver would achieve.
Tesla's NHTSA reports contain heavy redactions, such as "[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]," obscuring details on causes. Waymo, in contrast, offers transparent disclosures, allowing clearer analysis of incidents.
Implications for Safety and Regulation
These figures raise questions about Tesla's readiness for broader Robotaxi deployment. Elon Musk claimed in July 2025 that the service would expand nationwide to cover half the U.S. population by year-end, according to reports. Instead, operations remain limited to Austin, far short of that goal.
The crash rate, three to nine times worse than humans even with oversight, suggests challenges in scaling to unsupervised operations. "Tesla’s robotaxis are crashing at a rate 9 times higher than the average human driver... every Tesla robotaxi in the reported mileage had a safety monitor... whose entire job is to prevent crashes," Electrek stated in its analysis.
Discussions on platforms like Reddit and Hacker News echo these concerns, highlighting the lack of data on safety monitor interventions. Such interventions remain undisclosed, potentially masking even poorer performance without human backup. This omission skews statistics optimistically for Tesla, according to user comments compiled by Electrek.
In the broader autonomous vehicle industry, NHTSA scrutiny intensifies as companies push toward Level 4 and 5 autonomy. Tesla relies on a vision-based system, contrasting with lidar-equipped rivals like Waymo. Texas laws enabled the 2025 pilot but mandated monitors, a requirement Tesla reportedly plans to phase out by year's end, per the Austin American-Statesman.
Public safety and regulatory trust hang in the balance. High crash rates with monitors could erode confidence in robotaxi viability, especially amid separate issues with Tesla's Full Self-Driving software, such as failures at train crossings noted in prior reports.
What's Next for Robotaxi Operations
Tesla aims to remove safety monitors from its Austin fleet by the end of 2026, according to sources. No public data exists on post-November 2025 crashes or miles, leaving any improvement trends unconfirmed. Fleet size and active miles breakdowns also remain unavailable, limiting assessments of generalizability beyond Austin.
Waymo continues expanding driverless services in multiple cities, providing a benchmark for unsupervised performance. Exact Waymo crash rates in Austin for direct comparison are unclear, though overall figures stay "well below human averages," per company statements.
NHTSA may demand more transparency from Tesla, given the redactions. Unredacted filings or voluntary disclosures could clarify crash causes, such as the cyclist collision in September 2025.
Battery Wire's Take
Tesla's numbers spell trouble. With crashes every 55,000 miles despite monitors, unsupervised rollout looks like a recipe for disaster—far from Musk's hype. Waymo's track record shows what's possible, but Tesla's secrecy and redacted reports scream evasion. Regulators should slam the brakes until real improvements surface; otherwise, public roads become Tesla's risky testing ground.