The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the U.S. auto safety regulator, opened a review on Oct. 9 of a petition about Tesla's robotaxis. The petition, which NHTSA received on Sept. 23, asks it to investigate Tesla's model year 2026 robotaxis, both Model Y cars and the two-seat Cybercab, when Tesla's self-driving system is in control. It says the cars go faster than the posted speed limit in active school zones. NHTSA estimates that about 1,000 vehicles are covered.
A petition like this is a request, not a finding. Under federal rules, any interested person can ask NHTSA to look into a possible safety defect. Agency staff first review the petition. They may use what was sent in and information the agency already has, gather more, or hold a public meeting. The agency then grants or denies the petition, and can weigh its own resources and priorities as well as the evidence, so a denial does not by itself mean there is no problem. The rules say NHTSA tells the petitioner its decision within 120 days of receiving the petition. A grant starts a formal investigation; a denial is published in the Federal Register with the reasons.
NHTSA's opening summary says the petitioner sent links to three videos as evidence. The agency's count lists four reported incidents in all, three of them social media reports included in the petition, and no crashes, injuries or deaths.
The Cybercab, one of the two models in the petition, is already under a separate NHTSA review, opened on Sept. 3, of how Tesla certified it as meeting federal safety standards. In the U.S., carmakers certify on their own that their cars meet those standards, and NHTSA oversees that claim. Tesla has until Oct. 30 to answer that review's questions under oath. Tesla designed the Cybercab without a steering wheel or pedals, and says its robotaxi rides run in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, with Cybercab rides currently available in limited areas of Austin.
It is not yet known whether NHTSA will grant the petition and open a formal investigation, what the three videos show, which NHTSA's summary does not describe, or whether Tesla will respond to the claims in public.