Who is responsible when a robotaxi crashes in Austin?

Austin is a crowded robotaxi market: four companies run robotaxi service on its streets. Our article on who pays when a robotaxi crashes in Texas covers the rest of the state.

Which robotaxi companies operate in Austin?

Four: Tesla, Waymo, Avride, and Zoox. Each runs a different kind of service, which affects whose records you need.

Tesla launched its Robotaxi in Austin on June 22, 2025, with a Tesla employee "safety monitor" in the passenger seat. Limited rides with no monitor began January 22, 2026, and Tesla said unsupervised service covered the Austin metro on June 3, 2026, though trackers counted only about 20 unsupervised vehicles, according to Electrek (June 3, 2026). More on Tesla Robotaxi crashes.

Waymo riders in Austin book through the Uber app, as they have since March 2025. More on suing Waymo after a crash.

Avride runs a fleet of 344 Hyundai Ioniq 5s, according to the San Antonio Express-News (via GovTech, September 16, 2026). Avride's cars carry an operator in the driver's seat, some run on the Uber app, and on May 6, 2026 NHTSA opened a preliminary investigation (PE26003) into 16 Avride crashes in Dallas and Austin, citing concerns about lane changes and responses to vehicles and objects ahead.

Zoox offers free rides in Austin, according to Reuters (August 2026). Its paid service runs in Las Vegas, not Austin.

How many robotaxi crashes have been reported in Austin?

Waymo, Avride, and Tesla together reported 185 Austin crashes to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from June 2025 through August 17, 2026, according to the San Antonio Express-News (via GovTech, September 16, 2026).

Company	Austin crashes reported to NHTSA, June 2025 through Aug. 17, 2026	Vehicles on the Texas DMV registry, May 28, 2026
Waymo	135	577
Avride	27	317
Tesla	23	42

Crash counts: San Antonio Express-News via GovTech, September 16, 2026. Registry counts are statewide, from CNBC via The Next Web, May 31, 2026; Zoox had 35 registered vehicles then. Tesla North, a Tesla fan site, later reported Tesla's Texas registry at 739 vehicles on October 8, 2026; registered does not necessarily mean operating.

These counts reflect fleet size and miles driven, not fault. A company with more cars covering more miles files more reports. The federal reporting duty turns on the crash and its outcome, not on who caused it, and many reported Tesla crashes involved another driver striking the Tesla.

Waymo's company-wide per-mile figures, which are not specific to Austin, look different from the raw counts. Through June 2026, Waymo reports 82% fewer injury-causing crashes than human drivers over the same 271.3 million rider-only miles (Waymo's own analysis, waymo.com/safety/impact, fetched October 10, 2026). The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety separately found 68% fewer police-reportable crashes per mile across San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin (the Austin rate alone, from a small sample, was 4% higher than human drivers) for Waymo in July 2026, as reported in secondary coverage. Our robotaxi crash data page explains how the federal reporting works.

Have robotaxis passed stopped school buses in Austin?

Yes. As of December 2025, Texas officials had reported 19 illegal school-bus passings in Texas that school year, and Austin ISD reported five in November 2025 and another on December 1, according to CBT News (December 8, 2025).

NHTSA opened an investigation in October 2025 after Waymo vehicles passed stopped school buses, and Waymo recalled the software on 3,067 vehicles in December 2025, according to NHTSA recall records. According to Recording Law (September 29, 2026), a secondary source, the National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation in Austin involving a school bus in January 2026.

If your child was on or near a school bus when a robotaxi was involved, those investigation records may help show what the car was doing and what the company knew.

Who can be held responsible for an Austin robotaxi crash?

Any party whose conduct caused the crash, and Texas lets a jury divide the blame. These are the parties that can come into the case:

Party	How they come into the case
The robotaxi company	The automated driving system is the operator while engaged (§ 545.454(a)). Traffic citations go to the owner or to the authorization holder (§ 545.454(b)).
The maker of the car or its driving system	If a defect in the vehicle or software caused the crash, a product liability claim may lie against the company that made it.
A remote operator and the company that employs them	If a person at a remote station was steering, that person's conduct is part of the fault analysis. At least three Tesla Robotaxi crashes, two of them in Austin (July 2025 and January 2026), happened while a remote operator controlled the car, according to TechCrunch (May 15, 2026) and Electrek (July 20, 2026). Those reports do not assign fault.
Another driver	If that driver's conduct caused or contributed to the crash.
Uber, for Waymo rides	Uber holds trip records, and Texas treats a driverless vehicle as a transportation network company driver for insurance purposes (Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.003), with $1 million aggregate coverage during a prearranged ride (§ 1954.053).

Your own share counts too. Under Texas's proportionate responsibility statute, damages drop by your percentage of fault, and you recover nothing if you are more than 50% responsible (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 33).

The state also has a say over the companies themselves. TxDMV may suspend, revoke, or restrict a company's authorization when its operation "has resulted in or is likely to result in serious bodily injury" (Tex. Transp. Code § 545.459). That is a regulatory remedy, and it does not pay your medical bills.

What should I do at the scene of a robotaxi crash in Austin?

Call 911, get medical help, and document the robotaxi itself, since there may be no driver to trade information with. The steps:

1. Call 911. Get checked by a medical provider even if you feel fine, and keep every record.
2. Photograph the robotaxi's vehicle ID number and its company markings (the livery), along with the damage to every vehicle, the road, and your injuries.
3. If you were a passenger, note the ride ID in the app and screenshot the trip details and receipt.
4. Get names and phone numbers from witnesses and any human driver involved.
5. Report the crash through the company's app.
6. File a complaint with TxDMV, which opened a public complaint process on June 2, 2026.
7. Send written preservation demands to the robotaxi company, and to Uber if you booked through Uber, before the video and sensor data can be lost.

An empty robotaxi still has legal duties after a crash. Texas requires the automated vehicle, or a person acting on its behalf, to comply with the duties after a collision in Transportation Code chapter 550 (§ 545.457). And Texas requires a driverless vehicle used commercially to carry a recording device installed by the manufacturer (§ 545.455(b)(2)). No federal law, though, gives you a right to the company's camera, lidar, or log data. You get it through preservation demands and court discovery. Our guide to robotaxi crash video and sensor data walks through what to ask for.

Sources

• NHTSA recall report 25E-084, December 10, 2025: Waymo school-bus software recall
• San Antonio Express-News via GovTech, September 16, 2026: Austin crash counts and Avride fleet
• Waymo Safety Impact, fetched October 10, 2026: Waymo safety figures
• NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01, Third Amended, effective June 16, 2025: crash reporting rules
• Electrek, June 3, 2026 and Electrek, July 20, 2026: Tesla supervision and remote-operator crashes
• TechCrunch, May 15, 2026: remote-operator crashes
• Reuters, August 2026: Zoox service
• CNBC via The Next Web, May 31, 2026: Texas registry counts
• Tesla North, October 9, 2026 (fan site): Tesla registry count of October 8, 2026
• CBT News, December 8, 2025: school-bus passings in Texas
• Recording Law, September 29, 2026: NTSB investigation in Austin; also the secondary report of the July 2026 IIHS study
• NHTSA PE26003 notice, opened May 6, 2026: Avride investigation
• Texas statutes: Tex. Transp. Code §§ 545.454, 545.455, 545.456, 545.457, 545.459; Tex. Ins. Code §§ 1954.003, 1954.053; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 and ch. 33

Working with GB Law

Gianna Scatchell Basile is licensed to practice law in Illinois. GB Law does not represent clients in Texas or Florida. If you were hurt in a crash outside Illinois, we can help you find a lawyer licensed where it happened. If we refer your matter to another firm or work on it with one, we will tell you who that lawyer is and how any fee is divided before you sign anything, and you must agree to it in writing.

Questions people ask

How long do I have to file a claim after an Austin robotaxi crash?

Generally two years. Texas allows two years from the injury for personal injury claims and two years from the date of death for wrongful death claims under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003. The robotaxi's data can be lost much sooner than that, so the preservation demand should go out within days, not months.

Do robotaxi companies report Austin crashes to the federal government?

Yes. Under NHTSA's Standing General Order 2021-01, operators must report crashes involving a death, a hospital-treated injury, a struck vulnerable road user, an airbag deployment, or a tow-away within 5 calendar days. Other qualifying crashes are due by the 15th of the following month. The public data is partly redacted, so it is a cross-check, not a substitute for the company's own records.

What if the robotaxi was empty when it hit me?

You may still have a claim. Texas treats the automated driving system as the operator of the vehicle while it is engaged under § 545.454(a), and the automated vehicle, or a person acting for it, must comply with the post-collision duties in Transportation Code chapter 550 under § 545.457. Photograph the vehicle ID number and markings so the company can be identified.

Is it safe to ride a robotaxi in Austin?

The available data on Waymo, which had the most vehicles on the Texas registry as of May 28, 2026, is favorable. Waymo reports 82% fewer injury-causing crashes than human drivers through June 2026, by its own analysis, and IIHS separately found 68% fewer police-reportable crashes per mile across San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin (the Austin rate alone, from a small sample, was 4% higher than human drivers) in July 2026, as reported. Raw Austin crash counts reflect fleet size, not fault.

Does it matter that I booked my Waymo ride through Uber?

Yes, for records and insurance. Uber holds your trip data, so it should receive a preservation demand. Texas treats a driverless vehicle as a transportation network company driver for insurance purposes under Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.003, which brings in $1 million in aggregate liability coverage during a prearranged ride under § 1954.053. A lawyer sorts out which policy applies.

Can I complain to the state about a robotaxi company?

Yes. TxDMV opened a public complaint process on June 2, 2026, and the agency may suspend, revoke, or restrict a company's authorization when its operation has resulted in, or is likely to result in, serious bodily injury under § 545.459. A complaint does not compensate you for your injuries; that takes a claim against whoever is responsible.