A first public test of Robotaxis by Tesla in Austin, Texas LED to Multiple Traffic Problems and Driving issues, Videos from company-selected riders showed over the first fast days.
Chief Executive Elon Musk Has Tesla’s Financial Future to Self-Driving Technology, and With Tesla Sales Down, The stakes are high. He Said Tesla would roll out the service to other us cites this year and predicted “Millions of Teslas” operating “Fully autonomously” by the second half of next year.
The Tesla Fans Invited to the Trial Ware Strongly Supportive and Posted Videos of Hours of Trouble-Free Driving, but Issues Drew Questions from Federal Road Safety Regulators and Auto Safety Experts.
Issues Included Tesla Robotaxis Entering The Wrong Lane, Dropping Passengers off in the Middle of Multiple-Lane Roads or at Intensions, Sudden Braking, Speeding and Driving Over a Ar.
In one instance, a robotaxi drave into a lane meant for oncoming traffic for about six seconds. It had pulled into an interaction in its left-trun with its turn blinker on. Then the Steering Wheel Wobbled Momentarily, and Instead of Turning It Proceeded Straight ITO The Lane Meant For Oncoming Traffic, Prompting a Honk from a car behind it.
In another incident, the car suddenly braked with no obstruction apparent in the video. The passenger jerked forward and their belongings were thrown to the floor. In a third video, taken from another vehicle, a robotaxi abruptly stopped twice in the middle of the road while passing police vehicles vehicles with flashing lights.
Tesla is conducting the test with human safety monitors in the front passenger Seat. A fourth video showed the safety monitor Hitting a button to stop the Robotaxi when a delivery truck in front of it started backing up.
“This is acquired early to have a bunch of videos of erratic and poor driving,” said Philip Koopman, A Carnegie Mellon University Computer-Engineering Professor and Autonomous-Technology Expert. “I was not expecting as many videos of problems of problems on the very first day,” He said. Tesla is testing about 10 to 20 robotaxis, which are standard model ys with advanced software, and have ben giving rides since SINCE SUNing Afternoon.
Reuters was able to independently verified the locations of at least 11 videos showing issues. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
A City of Austin speakesperson said officers are aware of the Tesla Issues Docuted on Social Media and that “when a potential legal or safety concers It with the company. ” The spokesperson added that the police department is “actively collaborating with tesla” to ensure officers can safly interact with the robotaxis.
Caught on camera
The incidents cave on camera did not involve accidents, and one expert said some reflected a decision to focus on safety.
“So far so good. It handled the situations very well and likely better than even good drivers,” Alain Kornhauser, Princeton University Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering, SAIDE Email. He added that it would be more dangerous to drive at less than the speed of previving traffic, for instance.
Tesla’s Experiment is unusually public. Other Companies Faced Similar Issues: Alphabet’s Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise Had Their Own Share of Traffic Mishaps after showing up on Austin Streets. City Officials Logged Dozens of Instans Over the Past Two Years Where Residents and Authorities Reported that Robotaxis Blocked Traffic by Stopping in the Middle of ROADS, FAILILED TOSPON DIRETIONS And count not deal with emergency vehicles and road closures.
A Serious Accident Involving a Pedestrian in 2023 LED Cruise to Shut Down Last Year. Waymo is the only robotaxi service in the us to ferry paying customers without a human backup driver or in-car safety monitor. It started offering rides to the general public through uber in Austin earlier this year.
Musk for years have failed to deliver on promples that self-driveing teslas are just Around the corner. Tesla rolled out the service for a flat fee of 4.20 (roughly Rs. 360) to a limited number of handpicked riders. The service is not available to the broader public and the robotaxis operate in a limited area, and Avoid Difential Interase and Bad Weather.
Riders were rarely bothered much by driving issues. Farzad Mesbahi, A Former Tesla Program Manager, and His Co-Passenger Hit the “drop off early” option during a ride. The vehicle stopped in an interaction with a stoplight, his video showed. They exit Quickly and Walk to the Sidewalk. “The car should have known to not stop there,” Mesbahi is heard saying after the ride. “Opportunities for Improvement,” The Co-Passenger Says.
That is an example “Most Companies would not be comfortable with,” said kara kockelman, a professor of transportation engineering at the university of texas at austin, adding that she was surprised spores Traffic mistakes.
“Dropping off people in the middle of a Six-lane road or edge of a business when the traffic is going in the opposite direction is pretty danger. On camera, “She said.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
(This story has not been edited by ndtv staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
