The Tesla Robotaxi has been in the street for less than 72 hours. Is already being investigated for security problems

On Sunday, June 22, Tesla will begin publicly in the Robotaxi race. The company put, for the first time, its completely autonomous cars on the street. Since then, they operate with a handful of vehicles to a group of people previously chosen.

In less than three days, they are already being investigated.

June 22. It was the first day that Tesla’s robotaxis started walking through the streets of Austin. And although the promises in recent years had been grandiloquent, they did it within the regulations. That is: a handful of cars, a handful of chosen people and a handful of travel.

Although something like that could be expected, the company’s first steps in the sector are still far from the Cybercab Promised, artifacts without flyers or pedals that should act as a kind of ships with wheels that take you anywhere inside a city.

Let’s not forget that Elon Musk promised that we would see this in 2026.

Under investigation. In less than three days, the NHTSSAthe agency in charge of security in the United States has opened an investigation to make sure that these vehicles are safe, they explain in Bloomberg. The reason is the slightly erratic behavior of some cars.

At the moment they are only preliminary reports, they point out from the economic environment, but the NHTSA already warns in their response that they will take measures if they consider that the safety of passengers and the rest of the traffic agents are being endangered.

In the opposite direction. One of the reasons that has led NHTSA to the work table has arrived with a video published on social networks in which a Tesla is seen that doubts when taking a left output, to which it is bound at the intersection by the previously chosen lane. After hesitating, it moves to the right and enters a lane where cars circulate in the opposite direction. Subsequently, a double continuous line is skipped to return correctly.

The entire incident can be seen in the Tweet published by Rob Maurer in which he shows without cuts a trip of more than 20 minutes aboard one of the robotaxis of Tesla. Specifically, Tesla’s doubts and erratic behavior are found in the 7th and 15th minutes of the recording.

Many lights and some shadow. Except for this incident, in the rest of the video you can see how the car behaves with a lot of ease between traffic and that does not usually hesitate to take a way out or in which lane should be positioned. Nor does it give the feeling of circulating at an abnormally low speed or hindering the rest of the road agents.

Despite this, we must bear in mind that the trips that have been made are very few and with very chosen people. In fact, Maurer himself is known for having had a podcast focused exclusively on the company. Sawyer Merritt, who looks in his biography of X that he is Tesla’s investor, He also published a video in which the car is seen exceeding the maximum allowed speed in a street after exceeding a signal that reduced the limit to 30 mph.

Zero error. Actually, the two incidents have not put anyone at risk but NHTSA research gives an idea of ​​strict security measures that regulators want to demand from companies that put their cars on the street. Hence the Waymo and Cruise developments They were extended for years and that the tests are limited in space or in time.

Keep in mind that a small mistake with a car can generate important damage to a person and that we ask the autonomous car that is much safer than the human driver. In fact, the company itself assured in the presentation of Tesla Cybercab that “Mobility stinks” because, among other things, “it is not sure”.

That firm control of regulators is the one that forces Tesla to breach their own promises. That is, they have to circulate with humans and cars with flyers and pedals. But also that the area of ​​use is very limited and that the service between six in the morning and midnight.

Question of time. The publication of the news made Tesla’s actions slightly down. The same ones that had risen since Sunday after the finding that the robotaxis service was launched.

However, this fluctuating movement is relatively absurd since it is a matter of time that a company robotaxi is immersed in an accidenteither because of yours or for an unexpected movement of any other traffic agent.

It is something that all companies of this type have to deal with but the problems They took Cruise ahead and Xiaomi and the rest of the manufacturers They were attracted attention by the institutions after Three passengers died aboard an Xiaomi Su7 which seemed to be working with activated driving aid systems.

The NHTSSA and TESLA. Nor is it the first time that the NHTSA and Tesla look at the faces. The company has been accused of “Delivery advertising”together with other manufacturers, because the name of Autopilot overalls the real capacities that their cars can offer to the general public.

But Tesla has also gone through the NHTSA scrutiny due The autonomous driving system was deactivated not to leave a trace of its involvement in shocks. The company has also always played to the limit of legality in some aspects, such as using your own customers like Beta Testers In the streets before making officers the updates of your Autopilot.

Photo | Tesla

In Xataka | Tesla’s economic future goes through autonomous driving. At the moment everything is problems