The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated contact with Tesla following the emergence of videos on social media that depict the company's robotaxis behaving unpredictably on the streets of Austin, Texas.
This development has prompted federal regulators to scrutinize the safety and dependability of Tesla's autonomous driving technology.
According to Breitbart, Tesla's robotaxi service, which made its debut in Austin over the weekend, has already drawn the attention of federal authorities due to several concerning incidents captured on video and widely disseminated online.
The NHTSA has reached out to Tesla to obtain further details about these occurrences, which have sparked questions about the safety and reliability of the company's self-driving technology.
The videos, which quickly gained traction on Monday, showcase Tesla's robotaxis engaging in a series of unsettling maneuvers on Austin's roads. In one instance, a robotaxi was observed driving on the wrong side of the street after failing to execute a left turn, while another was seen abruptly braking in the midst of traffic, seemingly in response to stationary police vehicles that were not directly in its path.
These incidents have raised concerns among both the public and regulators, who are now closely examining Tesla's latest venture into autonomous technology.
Tesla's robotaxi pilot program in Austin features a fleet of 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles outfitted with the company's most sophisticated autonomous driving software and hardware. As a safety measure, each vehicle is currently accompanied by a human safety observer positioned in the front passenger seat.
The service operates during daylight hours and under favorable weather conditions, and is available by invitation only to a select group of riders who pay a fixed fee of $4.20 per ride.
Despite these challenges, the launch of Tesla's robotaxi service in Austin resulted in an eight percent increase in the company's stock price on Monday. However, this rollout falls short of CEO Elon Musk's numerous assurances over the past decade regarding the company's advancement towards full autonomy.
In 2015, Musk asserted that Tesla cars would achieve "full autonomy" within three years, and in 2016, he claimed that a Tesla vehicle would be capable of completing a coast-to-coast drive without human intervention by the end of 2017. Neither of these projections has materialized.
While Tesla continues to grapple with obstacles in its quest for autonomous driving, competitors such as Alphabet's Waymo and several Chinese firms, including Baidu's Apollo Go, WeRide, and Pony.ai, have made notable progress in operating commercial robotaxi fleets. Waymo, for instance, recently announced that it had surpassed 10 million paid trips in its robotaxis.
The unfolding situation in Austin underscores the ongoing challenges Tesla faces as it strives to fulfill its ambitious vision for autonomous driving, a vision that has yet to be fully realized despite years of bold predictions.
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