Safety

Safety investigations, regulations and autonomous vehicle incidents.

A white Waymo Jaguar I-PACE with roof-mounted sensors on Northumberland Avenue in central London in June 2026.

Sadiq Khan Calls for a Cap on the Number of Robotaxis on London's Streets

The mayor says London needs powers to limit the rollout before fully driverless cars arrive, as Freenow, Uber and Waymo line up services in the capital.

Priya Nair, Safety · Nov. 2, 2026

A gold Tesla Cybercab, a two-seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, on Interstate 280 near Palo Alto, Calif., in September 2026. File photo.

Tesla Says Its Driverless Robotaxis Caused No Injuries in 3.1 Million Miles

The company's first public safety report covers driving with no monitor aboard from January to mid-October across six cities in Texas and Florida, and names Las Vegas, Jacksonville, Phoenix and San Antonio as coming soon.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 25, 2026

A Zoox robotaxi, a purpose-built vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, crosses Potrero Street in San Francisco in May 2025. File photo.

U.S. Regulators Propose Cyan Lights to Show When a Car Is Driving Itself

A federal proposal would let driverless cars carry optional blue-green marker lamps on all four sides and would drop lighting rules written for human drivers.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 23, 2026

The Autopilot display in a Tesla on Interstate 80 near Lake Tahoe in April 2022. File photo.

Slovakia Approves Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) for Its Roads

The transport ministry recognized the Dutch approval of Tesla's supervised driver-assistance system. The driver stays fully responsible, and Tesla has given no rollout date or list of eligible cars.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 16, 2026

A 2025 Tesla Model Y at Santana Row in San Jose, Calif., in March 2025. File photo.

Tesla Robotaxi Filings Show Remote Operators Driving in Three Crashes

NHTSA's public ADS crash file codes three Tesla Robotaxi reports as remote commercial or test operation, including two August incidents added in the September release. All three were property damage only, with no passengers aboard.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 16, 2026

A Waymo test vehicle, with a person in the driver's seat, in downtown Minneapolis in February 2026. File photo.

Minneapolis Council Fails to Override Mayor's Veto of Rule Requiring Humans in Robotaxis

The 7-5 vote fell two short of the nine needed to revive Workers Drive Minneapolis, which would have put a paid monitor in the driver's seat of every driverless ride. Its authors say they are starting over.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 15, 2026

A Waymo Jaguar I-Pace test vehicle crosses the Mihara-bashi intersection in Tokyo's Ginza district in June 2026. File photo.

Tokyo Police to Set Up Japan's First Unit for Self-Driving Permits and Crash Investigations

The Metropolitan Police Department plans to open an autonomous driving office next spring to vet Level 4 permit applications and investigate crashes, ahead of a planned 2027 launch of driverless taxis in the capital by Waymo and its Japanese partners.

Kenji Watanabe, Asia desk · Oct. 13, 2026

A white Waymo Jaguar I-Pace test vehicle with roof-mounted sensors on Northumberland Avenue in central London in June 2026. File photo.

London Assembly Committee Asks Ministers to Let TfL License and Cap Robotaxis

A Transport Committee report says it has not heard enough evidence that London should welcome driverless taxi services, and wants Transport for London to issue, condition and withdraw permits once fuller national rules arrive in 2027.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 12, 2026

A gold Tesla Cybercab on Interstate 280 near Palo Alto, Calif., in September 2026. File photo.

NHTSA Reviews Petition Alleging Tesla Robotaxis Speed in Active School Zones

The safety agency opened a review covering an estimated 1,000 Model Y and Cybercab robotaxis after a petitioner submitted three videos. It has not decided whether to open a formal investigation.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 12, 2026

A truck's cab-mounted amber warning beacon lit at night, in an image Aurora published with its October 2025 announcement of the first federal beacon waiver.

U.S. Lets Driverless Trucks Use Cab-Mounted Beacons Instead of Warning Triangles for Five Years

Companies running trucks with no one aboard can use flashing lights on the cab instead of having a person set out reflective triangles when a truck stops. The decision replaces a run of three-month waivers.

Noah Park, Freight · Oct. 8, 2026

A Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi in San Francisco in 2023. Waymo opened its driverless service in Denver to the public on Sept. 1. File photo.

Denver Police Cannot Ticket Driverless Waymos, and a Colorado Lawmaker Plans a Bill to Change That

Colorado's 2017 autonomous vehicle law gives officers no way to cite a car with no one behind the wheel. State Rep. Jenny Willford says she will bring a bill in the 2027 session.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 6, 2026

A Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi crosses the cable car tracks on California Street in San Francisco.

San Francisco Will Block Robotaxi Pickups Along Its Northern Waterfront During Fleet Week

The geofence, in force from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday, also bars driverless ride service from the Presidio. Uber, Lyft and taxis face no such limits.

Sam Okonkwo, Robotaxi · Oct. 6, 2026

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks at a news conference in Minneapolis in 2023. File photo.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Vetoes Ordinance Requiring Human Monitors in Robotaxis

Frey called the council's Workers Drive Minneapolis measure a back door ban, a day after it passed 7-6. Supporters need nine votes to override him.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 4, 2026

A Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi on the Embarcadero in San Francisco in January 2026. File photo.

California Law Will Penalize Robotaxi Companies Whose Vehicles Block First Responders

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1246, which requires U.S.-based remote drivers and on-call local incident technicians for driverless fleets starting July 1, 2028.

Harper Quinn, Live desk · Oct. 4, 2026

A Motional IONIQ 5 robotaxi on the Las Vegas Strip.

Motional Open-Sources nuReasoning, a Dataset of 20,000 Long-Tail Driving Clips

The Hyundai-backed robotaxi company is releasing more than 105 hours of rare driving scenes, each annotated with why a vehicle acted as it did.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 4, 2026

A Waymo Ojai robotaxi on a San Francisco street.

Minneapolis Council Passes Ordinance Requiring Human Monitors in Robotaxis

The City Council narrowly approved an ordinance Thursday that would require a licensed human safety monitor in the driver's seat of commercial driverless rideshares, a 7-6 vote that now goes to Mayor Jacob Frey, who has called the measure a backdoor ban.

Priya Nair, Safety · Oct. 1, 2026

A WeRide robotaxi offered on Uber near Ferrari World on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

Dubai Opens Self-Driving Test Ground Where Tesla, WeRide and Pony.ai Have Run Trials

Dubai's transport authority has opened a proving ground for self-driving vehicles where, it says, Tesla and the Chinese robotaxi companies WeRide and Pony.ai have already run trials, as the emirate works to move autonomous cars out of pilot zones and into everyday traffic.

Priya Nair, Safety · Sept. 29, 2026

A Zoox robotaxi on the Las Vegas Strip near Bellagio in August 2026.

Nissan Driver Hospitalized After Crash With Empty Zoox Robotaxi on Las Vegas Strip

A Nissan SUV and a driverless Zoox robotaxi with no one aboard collided on the Las Vegas Strip on Friday morning, sending the SUV's driver to a hospital on the same day a state limit on the size of Zoox's Nevada fleet was set to expire.

Priya Nair, Safety · Sept. 26, 2026

A WeRide autonomous shuttle with Grab branding on a Singapore street.

FairPrice AV Lead Proposes Singapore Passport for Explainable Self-Driving Systems

Adarsh Premnath, FairPrice Group's manager for future mobility, published a LinkedIn Pulse white paper proposing a Singapore AV Passport as a cross-border certification benchmark built on explainability and public trust.

Kenji Watanabe, Asia desk · Sept. 21, 2026

Empty Cab, Full Line: Sydney Clears Unattended Driverless Metro Trials Before Southwest Opening

Metro Trains Sydney has approval to run driverless trials with no supervisor on board on the Sydenham-Bankstown stretch, a month from the targeted Southwest Metro opening, the Herald reported.

Kenji Watanabe, Asia desk · Sept. 18, 2026

Level 2 Loophole: Tesla Cybercabs Cruise NYC Without AV Permits

New York City DOT says Tesla's supervised Cybercab runs are Level 2 driver assistance, not Level 4 autonomy, so the company needs no AV testing permit, Gothamist reported.

Priya Nair, Safety · Sept. 18, 2026

Empty Cab, Full Cars: Kobe Ran Driverless Transit in 1981

Did you know Kobe's Port Liner opened in 1981 as the world's first driverless urban transit system, more than two years before Lille's VAL metro?

Harper Quinn, Live desk · Sept. 18, 2026

Back From the Flood: Waymo Restarts San Antonio Rides With Water-Avoidance Upgrades

Waymo has restarted paid robotaxi service in San Antonio five months after a flash flood swept an empty vehicle off the road, with software and map changes aimed at standing water, TechCrunch and local outlets reported.

Sam Okonkwo, Robotaxi · Sept. 17, 2026

Competency Over Controls: NHTSA Banks ASCEND for National AV Performance Standards

NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the agency has signed a cooperative agreement with SAE to launch ASCEND, a consortium whose top priority is ADS competency standards that can become an FMVSS.

Priya Nair, Safety · Sept. 17, 2026

Waymo roof sensor on a city street with Waymo and Allianz logos.

Risk Partners: Waymo Brings Allianz Into Its Europe Robotaxi Build

Allianz Partners will handle fleet insurance, digital claims and safety research for Waymo's London and Munich expansion, the companies said.

Priya Nair, Safety · Sept. 16, 2026

A Waymo Jaguar I-PACE robotaxi on a wet night street, rain on the windshield, LiDAR dome on the roof.

Rain Check: Viral Waymo Storm Clip Revives Musk’s LiDAR Dig

A rain-slick Waymo clip paired with Elon Musk's old line that LiDAR scatters in precipitation is circulating again as Waymo opens in wet markets and Tesla posts its own storm videos.

Priya Nair, Safety · Sept. 15, 2026

A gold Tesla Cybercab with gull-wing doors open, showing the two-seat cabin and no steering wheel.

Under Oath: NHTSA Orders Tesla to Prove Cybercab Is Legal to Sell

An audit query is a request. A Special Order is a legal demand. NHTSA has escalated its review of how Tesla certified a robotaxi with no steering wheel, pedals, or mirrors.

Priya Nair, Safety · Sept. 15, 2026

Empty cockpit of a gold Tesla Cybercab, showing no steering wheel.

NHTSA Opens Audit of Tesla Cybercab Self-Certification

The U.S. safety regulator is examining the process and technical data Tesla used to certify a robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, hours after commercial rides began in Austin.

Priya Nair, Safety · Sept. 4, 2026