Videos posted online show some 鈥渕oving violations鈥 that 鈥渃ould be very serious,鈥 state senator Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat who represents Texas鈥 14th district, told WIRED in an interview. 鈥淢y constituency is particularly tech savvy and excited about this [autonomous vehicle] technology, but my constituency is also very concerned about public safety, and we can hit the right balance.鈥
Last week, as the hours before the debut of Tesla鈥檚 robotaxi service ticked down, Eckhardt was one of seven Texas Democratic lawmakers who sent a letter to Tesla field quality director Eddie Gates asking the company to delay its plans to launch. Texas has for years had loose rules and oversight around autonomous vehicle operations, making it an attractive place for tech developers to test and launch. But a new law requiring AV companies to comply with “basic safety guardrails鈥 passed this spring and will kick in on September 1, and the lawmakers were 鈥渇ormally requesting鈥 Tesla wait until then to put its driverless cars on Austin鈥檚 roads.
鈥淲e believe that this is in the best interest of both public safety and building public trust in Tesla鈥檚 operations,鈥 the lawmakers wrote. If Tesla chose to go ahead with the scheduled June 22 launch, the lawmakers requested “detailed information” about how Tesla will comply with the new law.
Eckhardt, the first to sign the letter, hasn鈥檛 heard from Tesla since, even after the company launched its service Sunday. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e sometimes difficult to get a hold of,鈥 she says.
Still, Eckhardt credits the lawmakers鈥 pressure for Tesla鈥檚 decision to leave a human monitor in the front passenger seat of each robotaxi. According to videos posted by riders, these people seem to have some power to intervene when the technology doesn鈥檛 perform as expected. (Tesla did not respond to any of WIRED鈥檚 questions for this story.)
Most of the public information about Tesla鈥檚 robotaxi launch comes from a small group of influencers invited by the company to be among those to take the first rides in its new technology. Many have financial stakes in the company; others have built media careers around promoting and cheerleading the electric-vehicle company鈥檚 work. Still, some of the videos posted online show the Tesla robotaxis making mistakes.
One video shows a robotaxi briefly crossing a double-yellow line to drive into oncoming traffic, an apparent botched attempt to make a left turn. Another shows the human monitor stopping the Tesla to avoid a UPS truck backing into a parking spot. Another shows the car appearing to 鈥減hantom brake鈥濃攃oming to a sudden and abrupt stop for no apparent reason.
Autonomous vehicles are mostly regulated on the state level, and Texas鈥 current rules give companies wide berth to test and deploy on its public roads. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the nation鈥檚 federal road safety watchdog, can only intervene after the technology is already on the roads and proven to be unsafe. In an emailed statement responding to the documented incidents, a NHTSA spokesperson wrote that the agency 鈥渋s aware of the referenced incidents and is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information.”
By law, autonomous vehicle developers must report some incident data to the NHTSA, though the Trump administration has limited the information developers are required to share and allowed them to shield some of it from public view.
The new Texas law, Senate Bill 2807, requires autonomous vehicle companies to obtain operating permits before they hit public roads. Firms also have to provide the state with emergency response procedures for first responders. The law doesn鈥檛 kick in until September 1. WIRED asked the Texas Department of Public Safety whether it received Tesla鈥檚 emergency response procedures before the company launched its service on Sunday; the department did not respond.
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The state鈥檚 new permit process is not nearly as intensive as the one used by California, which was the first state in the country to create autonomous vehicle testing and deployment rules. But the permit does mean that Texas regulators can intervene to stop a company from operating on its roads if the company is deemed to be involved in too many safety incidents.
Three other companies鈥擶aymo, Zoox, and AV Ride鈥攐perate in Austin. Waymo is the only one to offer public rides in the city, which users can hail through the Uber app.
Eckhardt says she wishes Tesla went through a longer public period of mapping, testing, and data sharing before it launched in Austin. 鈥淲e need good local and state communication, to make sure that we really are meeting our public safety obligations,鈥 she says.