New data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has revealed that Tesla's robotaxi program is experiencing a crash rate significantly higher than human drivers, despite having a safety monitor in every vehicle. According to NHTSA's Standing General Order crash reports, Tesla reported nine crashes involving its robotaxi fleet in Austin, Texas between July and November 2025.
The fleet has traveled approximately 500,000 miles as of November 2025, resulting in roughly one crash every 55,000 miles. For comparison, human drivers in the United States average around one police-reported crash every 500,000 miles, according to NHTSA data.
However, when including non-police-reported incidents, humans are closer to 200,000 miles between crashes, which is still a lot better than Tesla's robotaxi in Austin. The lack of transparency about what happened in these crashes makes it impossible to have confidence that Tesla is learning from them.
In contrast, Waymo operates fully driverless vehicles in multiple cities and publishes detailed information about every incident, with significantly better safety numbers. Tesla's complete lack of transparency about what happened in its robotaxi crashes has raised concerns about the company's ability to be taken seriously as a robotaxi operator.
The data also raises questions about the effectiveness of having a safety monitor in every vehicle, which is supposed to prevent crashes. With only a few incidents reported so far, it remains to be seen whether Tesla can improve its safety record and provide more transparency about what's happening on the roads.
The data highlights the need for greater accountability and transparency in autonomous vehicle operations. With a safety monitor in place, one would expect a significantly lower crash rate. The fact that it's not is a cause for concern and raises questions about Tesla's ability to develop safe and reliable robotaxi technology.
