Who pays when a robotaxi crashes in Texas?

This article covers Texas. For a comparison of the rules in Texas, Florida, and Illinois, see what to do after a robotaxi or self-driving car crash. Separate articles cover robotaxi crashes in Florida and self-driving cars in Illinois.

The legal questions after a robotaxi crash are old ones: who caused it, and who pays. The evidence is new. The car is the witness, and the company that owns it holds the recording. Most Texas injury claims must be filed within two years.

What should you do in the first days after a robotaxi crash?

Get medical care first, then protect the evidence, in roughly this order.

1. Call 911 and get checked out. A police report and early medical records anchor everything that follows. Texas requires the automated vehicle, or a person acting on its behalf, to comply with the duties after a collision in Transportation Code ch. 550 (Tex. Transp. Code § 545.457).
2. Photograph the robotaxi. Get the company name, the vehicle number on the body, the license plate, the damage, and where each vehicle stopped. Fleet cars look alike, so the number proves which one it was.
3. Save the trip record. Passengers should screenshot the receipt and ride ID. Waymo rides in Austin are booked through the Uber app, so that receipt lives in your Uber account.
4. Get names. Write down witnesses and anyone from the company at the scene. Tesla's Austin service launched on June 22, 2025 with a Tesla "safety monitor" in the passenger seat, according to Electrek.
5. Report it. Use the company's app. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) also opened a public complaint process for automated vehicles on June 2, 2026.
6. Demand the data in writing. A preservation letter tells the company to keep its video and sensor record. Our guide to getting robotaxi crash video and sensor data covers what to ask for.

Which robotaxi companies operate in Texas, and where?

Waymo, Tesla, Avride, and Zoox all operate in Texas, and Austin is where all four run. When Texas began enforcing its authorization requirement on May 28, 2026, the TxDMV registry listed Waymo with 577 vehicles, Avride with 317, Tesla with 42, and Zoox with 35, according to CNBC as reported by The Next Web.

Company	Where it operates in Texas	Registered (May 28, 2026)	Austin crashes reported to NHTSA, June 2025 to Aug. 17, 2026
Waymo	Austin (booked through Uber since March 2025); Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, according to TechCrunch (September 1, 2026)	577	135
Avride	Austin and Dallas, with an operator in the driver's seat and some rides on Uber, according to NHTSA's May 2026 investigation notice	317	27
Tesla	Austin since June 22, 2025; Dallas and Houston since April 2026, small fleets, as reported	42	23
Zoox	Free rides in Austin, according to Reuters (August 2026)	35	3 total reported (fleet of 44)

Registry: CNBC via The Next Web (May 31, 2026). Crashes: San Antonio Express-News via GovTech (September 16, 2026).

Two cautions. Registered is not operating: Tesla North, a Tesla fan site, reported Tesla's Texas registry at 739 vehicles (420 Model Y and 319 Cybercab) on October 8, 2026, registered but not necessarily carrying riders. And bigger fleets driving more miles file more crash reports, so a raw count shows nothing about fault. Our robotaxi crash data page is updated monthly. For company details, see Tesla Robotaxi crashes, suing Waymo after a crash, and robotaxi crashes in Austin.

Who can bring a claim after a robotaxi crash?

Anyone hurt in the crash, inside the robotaxi or not. The claim looks different depending on where you were.

Passengers. You rode in a car the company controlled completely. Its trip records show the route, timing, and what the car was doing when it crashed. If you booked through Uber, as Waymo riders in Austin do, Uber holds a second set of records. Our article on who pays if you're hurt in an Uber or Lyft accident explains the overlapping rideshare rules.

Drivers of other vehicles. If a robotaxi hit you, your claim is against the company responsible for it and possibly the company that built it. The reverse happens too: many of the crashes Tesla reported involved another driver striking the Tesla.

Pedestrians and cyclists. A robotaxi company must report a crash involving a struck vulnerable road user, such as a pedestrian or cyclist, within five calendar days (NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01). In August 2026 in Dallas, an SUV struck a pedestrian, who was thrown into an unoccupied Waymo and died at the hospital, according to the San Antonio Express-News and NBC DFW. The robotaxi's cameras may hold the clearest record of what happened.

Safety monitors and other employees. In a July 2025 crash, an SUV rear-ended a Tesla Robotaxi at about 2 mph, and the safety monitor later reported pain and sought medical evaluation. Tesla first reported it as property damage only, then in December 2025 raised the severity to "Minor W/ Hospitalization," according to Electrek. An injured employee may have a claim against the driver who caused the crash; a claim against your own employer can follow different rules.

Who can be held responsible for a robotaxi crash?

Responsibility follows the cause. It can fall on the operating company, the manufacturer, another human driver, or the rideshare platform that dispatched the ride, and more than one can share it.

The operating company. Companies need TxDMV authorization to run driverless vehicles, enforced since May 28, 2026 (Tex. Transp. Code § 545.456), and traffic citations go to the owner or the authorization holder (§ 545.454(b)). If the car ran a light or a remote operator mishandled it, the operator's conduct is at issue.

The manufacturer. Software can be defective the same way brakes can. After Waymo vehicles passed stopped school buses, NHTSA opened an investigation in October 2025, and Waymo recalled the software on 3,067 vehicles in December 2025, according to NHTSA recall records. An investigation or recall is not a finding about any individual crash.

Another human driver. When a person caused the collision, that driver and their insurer are central to the claim. Texas divides responsibility by percentage, and you cannot recover if you are more than 50% responsible (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 33).

Uber, when it dispatched the ride. Texas treats an automated vehicle as a transportation network company driver for insurance purposes, which brings rideshare coverage rules into these cases (Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.003). Whether Uber shares fault depends on the facts of the trip.

Our article on who is liable when a self-driving car crashes in Texas goes deeper.

Who is the "driver" when no one is behind the wheel?

The software is. When the automated driving system is engaged, Texas law provides that "the automated driving system is the operator of the vehicle, including for purposes of assessing compliance with applicable traffic or motor vehicle laws" (Tex. Transp. Code § 545.454(a), as amended by SB 2807 in 2025).

An empty driver's seat does not mean no one is responsible. The statute speaks most directly to traffic-law compliance, and how far it reaches in a civil injury claim is a question for a lawyer, but it is a firm starting point. TxDMV may also suspend, revoke, or restrict an authorization when operation "has resulted in or is likely to result in serious bodily injury" (§ 545.459).

What insurance covers a robotaxi crash in Texas?

Rideshare-level coverage. Texas considers an automated motor vehicle a "transportation network company driver" under its rideshare insurance rules (Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.003).

When the crash happens	Minimum coverage	Rule
During a prearranged ride	$1 million aggregate liability coverage	Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.053
Logged in and available, not on a ride	50/100/25 liability coverage	Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.052
The operator's baseline requirement	Liability coverage or self-insurance at least equal to what state or federal law requires	Tex. Transp. Code §§ 545.455(b)(6), 545.456

These are minimums. Which tier applies depends on what the car was doing at the moment of the crash, one more reason the trip data matters. If a human driver caused the crash, that driver's insurance is in play too.

Why does the robotaxi's data matter so much?

Because the car recorded the crash in more detail than any witness could, and you have no automatic right to see it. Texas requires a driverless vehicle used commercially to carry a recording device, as defined in § 547.615(a), installed by the manufacturer (Tex. Transp. Code § 545.455(b)(2)). The company also holds camera, lidar, and log data.

No federal law gives a crash victim a right to that camera, lidar, or log data. Injured people get it through preservation demands and, once a case is filed, court discovery. The Driver Privacy Act of 2015 makes event data recorder (EDR) data the vehicle owner's property, retrievable by others only with consent, a court order, or a narrow exception. In a robotaxi crash, the owner is usually the company.

Speed matters. In Texas, the judge decides whether evidence was improperly destroyed, and a jury instruction on destroyed evidence generally requires intentional destruction, with a narrow exception for negligent destruction that irreparably deprives the other side of a meaningful ability to present its case (Brookshire Bros. v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014)). A written preservation demand puts the company on notice early. See our guide to robotaxi crash video and sensor data.

How long do you have to file a robotaxi injury claim in Texas?

Two years for most personal injury claims, and two years from the date of death for wrongful death (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003). The work starts much sooner, because the vehicle data may not wait two years. A lawyer licensed in Texas can confirm your deadline.

Are robotaxis more dangerous than human drivers?

Waymo's published numbers say no, at least for Waymo, though most of that data comes from Waymo itself. Through June 2026, Waymo reports 271.3 million rider-only miles and, against human-driver benchmarks over the same miles, 82% fewer injury-causing crashes, 95% fewer serious-injury-or-worse crashes, 82% fewer airbag-deployment crashes, and 93% fewer pedestrian-injury crashes (Waymo safety impact page, fetched October 10, 2026). An independent IIHS study (July 2026) 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), according to secondary reports of that study.

The August 2026 Dallas pedestrian death is the only Texas fatality in NHTSA's robotaxi crash database since June 2025, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Robotaxis still make mistakes. As of December 2025, Texas officials had reported 19 illegal school-bus passings in Texas that school year by Waymo vehicles, including five reported by Austin ISD in November 2025 and another on December 1, according to CBT News. NHTSA said in June 2025 it was "in contact with the manufacturer" after videos of erratic driving by Tesla's service, though we have not found a formal NHTSA defect investigation specific to Tesla's Robotaxi.

Fairly read, Waymo's averages look good, but much of the data is self-reported, and a good average does not help if you were in one of the crashes.

Sources

• NHTSA recall report 25E-084, December 10, 2025: Waymo school-bus software recall
• San Antonio Express-News via GovTech, September 16, 2026: crash totals and the Dallas fatality
• 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, February 17, 2026, Electrek, May 15, 2026, Electrek, June 3, 2026, Electrek, July 20, 2026, and TechCrunch, May 15, 2026: Tesla launch, severity update, and remote-operator crashes
• TechCrunch, September 1, 2026: Waymo service areas
• 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: Waymo school-bus passings
• NBC DFW, August 8, 2026: Dallas fatality
• Reuters, August 2026: Zoox service
• IIHS study, July 2026, as reported: independent safety comparison
• NHTSA PE26003 notice, opened May 6, 2026: Avride investigation
• Texas statutes: Tex. Transp. Code §§ 545.454 to 545.459 and § 547.615(a); Tex. Ins. Code §§ 1954.003, 1954.052, and 1954.053; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 and ch. 33
• Texas spoliation standard: Brookshire Bros. v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014)
• Federal EDR ownership rule: Driver Privacy Act of 2015

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

Can I sue a robotaxi company when no one was driving?

Yes, the empty driver's seat does not end the case. Texas law treats the automated driving system as the operator of the vehicle when it is engaged (Tex. Transp. Code § 545.454(a)). A claim can be brought against the company responsible for the vehicle and, if a defect played a role, against the manufacturer. Trip records and the state registry help identify who owns, operates, and built the car.

What if I was partly at fault for the crash?

You can still recover in Texas if you are not more than 50% responsible. Under the state's proportionate responsibility law (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 33), your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, and above 50% you recover nothing. Fault percentages are often disputed, and the robotaxi's own video can answer questions about speed, signals, and position.

Does it matter that I booked the robotaxi through Uber?

Yes, it can. Waymo's Austin service has been booked through the Uber app since March 2025, so Uber holds trip records that may matter. Texas also treats an automated vehicle as a transportation network company driver for insurance purposes (Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.003), which brings $1 million in aggregate liability coverage during a prearranged ride (§ 1954.053). Save the Uber receipt and ride ID.

Can I get the robotaxi's camera footage myself?

Usually not on your own. No federal law gives a crash victim a right to an AV company's camera, lidar, or log data. Injured people get it through a written preservation demand and, after a lawsuit is filed, court discovery. Meanwhile, save your own photos, any dashcam video, and witness videos, because those are records you control.

Do robotaxi companies have to report crashes to the government?

Yes, under NHTSA's Standing General Order 2021-01. Operators must report crashes involving a fatality, a hospital-treated injury, a struck vulnerable road user, an airbag deployment, or a tow-away within five calendar days, and other qualifying crashes by the 15th of the following month. The public versions are partly redacted but are a useful cross-check on the company's account.

How do I report a robotaxi problem to the State of Texas?

File a complaint with TxDMV, which opened a public complaint process for automated vehicles on June 2, 2026. The agency oversees the authorizations these companies need (Tex. Transp. Code § 545.456) and can suspend, revoke, or restrict one when operation has resulted in, or is likely to result in, serious bodily injury (§ 545.459). A complaint does not replace an injury claim.

What if the robotaxi was being driven remotely when it crashed?

The remote operator's actions become part of the case, and the company behind them can be responsible. At least three Tesla crashes involved a remote operator controlling the vehicle, including a May 2026 crash into a tree stump in Houston, according to TechCrunch and Electrek. A preservation demand should ask specifically for remote-operator logs, communications, and video from the time of the crash.