Tesla’s Robotaxi Crash Reports Are Now Unredacted — Here’s What They Show

Tesla has released fully unredacted Robotaxi crash narratives to U.S. regulators for the first time, revealing that its Austin autonomous fleet has so far avoided any serious at-fault crashes, that none of the incidents so far have involved their unsupervised Robotaxis, and most were the fault of human drivers, and not Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.

The newly updated filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provide detailed descriptions of every reported Tesla autonomous driving system (ADS) incident through April 15, 2026. Previously, Tesla had heavily redacted many of the narratives, drawing criticism over the lack of detail, making it difficult to properly evaluate the company’s Robotaxi performance.

With the narratives now fully visible, the reports confirm our previous reporting that there have been no major at-fault Robotaxi crashes involving Tesla’s fleet in Austin, and many are as minor as hitting a curb or a pothole.

Tesla’s Incident Count Remains Low

According to the latest NHTSA data, Tesla has reported just 19 Austin-area autonomous vehicle incidents since launching its supervised-free Robotaxi operations. By comparison, Waymo has logged 1,818 incidents and Zoox has reported 133, although those figures are not normalized by fleet size, vehicle count, or miles driven.

Even so, the newly unredacted Tesla narratives show most incidents were minor low-speed contacts in dense urban environments or parking situations. Several involved the Robotaxi being struck by another road user while stopped, including one incident where an SUV slowly rolled forward into the rear of a stationary Tesla at a red light.

Most Incidents Involved Minor Damage

Other reports describe relatively minor events such as hitting curbs, contact with a protruding trailer hitch, or tire damage from a pothole. There are also many no-fault incidents, including one where a pedicab hit the side mirror of a stopped Tesla, while another described a motor scooter moving directly behind the vehicle before contact occurred.

Notably absent from the reports are any serious injury crashes, high-speed impacts, or incidents suggesting failures of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Unsupervised) system. Additionally, all incidents were with saefty monitors onboard and none involved Tesla’s unsupervised fleet.

Redactions Had Drawn Criticism

The data release is also significant because Tesla had faced increasing criticism over its previous use of redactions in NHTSA filings. Autonomous vehicle researcher and critic groups argued the lack of detail made it difficult to independently evaluate the company’s safety performance.

Now that the narratives are public, we can directly compare Tesla’s incident descriptions with those submitted by competing autonomous driving companies.

Full Tesla Robotaxi Crash Narratives

Here are the full narratives for the 19 reported incidents.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped at an intersection in the left turn only lane with a flashing yellow left arrow light as an oncoming vehicle was approaching. A passenger vehicle that had been stopped behind the ADS proceeded forward and rear ended the ADS. The ADS had a safety monitor present in the vehicle with no passengers.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped at a stop sign. A truck behind the ADS proceeded forward and rear ended the ADS. The ADS had a safety monitor present in the vehicle with one passenger.

Summary: The Tesla ADS started reversing  after encountering a blocked alley.  As the ADS was reversing, the ADS’s rear end made contact with a wooden electrical pole. Safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS  was reversing in a parking lot. As the ADS was reversing into an empty parking space, the ADS’s right rear tire made contact with a corner of a curb. Safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS  was proceeding straight on a street, where space was minimal due to a parked heavy duty tow truck and a parked passenger vehicle on the either side of the street. As the ADS continued straight, the ADS’s left side mirror made contact with the heavy duty tow truck’s left side of the bed. Safety monitor and one passenger were present.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped at an intersection with a red light in the left most lane (the adjacent right lane next to the ADS was blocked off with construction barriers). While the ADS remained stopped, a metrobus from the perpendicular left of the ADS made a right turn into the lane nearest the ADS. As the metrobus made the right turn, the bicycle rack in front of the metrobus sideswiped the ADS’s left side. Safety monitor and two passengers were present.

Summary: The Tesla ADS  was proceeding straight on a two lane street in the #2 lane. As the ADS continued straight on the street, the ADS’s rear right tire proceeded over an uneven pavement that punctured the rear right tire. As the ADS reduced vehicle speed to approximately 18MPH while pulling over to the side of the road, the ADS’s rear right tire made contact with the corner of a right curb. The ADS initiated a minimal risk condition maneuver due to the loss in tire pressure. Safety monitor and a passenger were present inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped behind traffic at an intersection with a red light. A person on a motor scooter (VRU) approached the ADS from behind and moved into a gap directly behind the ADS. As the VRU was directly behind the stopped ADS, the VRU steered right and made contact with the ADS’s rear end. Afterwards the VRU hopped the right curb and continued to proceed straight on the sidewalk. Safety monitor and passenger were present in the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS made a left turn onto a residential street. As the ADS passed a residential house, with a dump trailer parked in the driveway and the trailer’s gooseneck hitch sticking out into the street, the ADS’s side mirror made contact with the gooseneck hitch. Safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was proceeding straight in the center lane of the three lane street. As the Tesla ADS was approaching a green light at an intersection, a dog perpendicular to the Tesla vehicle is seen running into the intersection from the right. The Tesla ADS reduced vehicle speed and steered to the left. The dog proceeded to run onto the main road and toward the Tesla ADS’s lane and path. The Tesla ADS continued to reduce vehicle speed and biased left in lane. The dog ran toward the Tesla and made contact with the bottom of the Tesla ADS’s front right bumper which caused the dog to be pushed to the right, into the lane and path of an approaching van. As the Tesla ADS continued to proceed forward, the dog appeared behind the van and was seen running away from the street, only to turn around and run back toward the street. Safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS proceeded straight in a parking lot. A passenger vehicle came into view while reversing from a perpendicular parking aisle on the right, which was marked for entry only, and was moving toward the Tesla ADS in the wrong direction against directional road markings. The Tesla ADS reduced vehicle speed and steered to the left. The reversing passenger vehicle continued reversing  and made contact with the right side of the Tesla vehicle. Safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped on the right side of the street. Safety monitor requested support to assist with the Tesla ADS not proceeding forward. The teleoperator took over vehicle control and gradually increased vehicle speed and turned the Tesla ADS left toward the left side of the street. The Tesla vehicle was driven up the curb and made contact with a metal fence. The safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.  On 03/20/2026, while submitting this report and removing confidential or personally identifying information, the report was submitted in error indicating airbag deployment and tow for the subject vehicle. This is in error and the reports were updated to reflect that no airbags were deployed and no tow of the Tesla vehicle was conducted.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped in the bi-directional turn lane (or center left turn lane) of a five lane road with its left indicator active. When the two lanes of oncoming traffic were clear, the ADS made an unprotected left turn into an entrance of a parking lot. As the ADS entered the parking lot, the ADS made contact with a metal chain. The ADS had a safety monitor present with one passenger in the vehicle. On 03/20/2026, while submitting this report and removing confidential or personally identifying information, the report was submitted in error indicating airbag deployment and tow for the subject vehicle. This is in error and the reports were updated to reflect that no airbags were deployed and no tow of the Tesla vehicle was conducted.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped in a straight through lane with other vehicles stopped at a red light. A pedicab, approaching from behind in the bike lane on the right, made contact with the right side mirror of the stopped ADS as it rode by. Safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was proceeding straight on a street and the safety monitor requested support to assist with vehicle navigation. The teleoperator took over vehicle control when the ADS was stopped and proceeded straight on the street. The Tesla vehicle made contact with a temporary barricade for a construction site at approximately 9MPH, scraping the front-left fender and tire. Safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped in the bi-directional turn lane (or center left turn lane) of a five lane road with its left indicator active. When the two lanes of oncoming traffic were clear, the ADS made an unprotected left turn into an entrance of a parking lot. As the ADS entered the parking lot, the ADS made contact with a metal chain. The ADS had a safety monitor present with one passenger in the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped on the right side of the street. Safety monitor requested support to assist with the Tesla ADS not proceeding forward. The teleoperator took over vehicle control and gradually increased vehicle speed and turned the Tesla ADS left toward the left side of the street. The Tesla vehicle was driven up the curb and made contact with a metal fence. The safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The Tesla ADS was stopped at a red light at an intersection. An SUV that had been stopped behind the ADS crept forward and rear ended the ADS. Safety monitor was present and no passengers were inside the vehicle.

Summary: The ADS was stopped then creeped forward up to 2MPH while continuing to yield for cross traffic and was rear-ended by an SUV behind the ADS. The ADS had a safety monitor present with no passengers in the vehicle. On 07/29 Tesla received notice that the safety monitor reported a minor complaint of pain and later sought medical evaluation.