{"id":"74d91ddc-7b0e-4edb-926c-e0c3ae0af53b","slug":"tesla-houston-robotaxi-remote-operator-tree-stump-may-2026","kind":"collision","headline":"Tesla Robotaxi driven into tree stump by remote operator in Houston","summary":"A Tesla Model Y Robotaxi was being remotely assisted out of a dead-end residential road in Houston when the remote operator drove the vehicle into a hidden tree stump at approximately 2 mph. Property damage only; no injuries, no airbag deployment. This is the third remote-operator-involved crash Tesla has reported to NHTSA and the first formally coded as remote operation in its filing.","occurredAt":"2026-05-01T00:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"unreviewed","modelId":"29951756-3e69-44e2-bc13-aa01909c0098","deploymentId":null,"companyId":null,"dataCenterId":null,"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":null,"rootCauseCategory":null,"rootCauseDetail":null,"affectedUnitsCount":null,"affectedUnitsBasis":null,"remediationStatus":null,"regulatoryAction":null,"regulatoryBody":null,"propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":null,"fatalityCount":null,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":null,"oshaRecordable":null,"oshaCaseNumber":null,"rootCauseDisclosed":null,"publicDisclosureDate":null,"insuranceClaimPublic":null,"formFactor":null,"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"autonomyClass":null,"legalOutcomeClass":"unknown","createdAt":"2026-08-13T18:58:55.152Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-13T18:58:55.152Z","model":{"id":"29951756-3e69-44e2-bc13-aa01909c0098","companyId":"bde7c8a1-5d35-449d-93b0-2ac8e4601c16","modelName":"Tesla Robotaxi (Model Y ADS)","slug":"tesla-robotaxi","description":"Tesla's robotaxi service vehicle, a 2026 Model Y operating with Tesla's Autonomous Driving System (ADS, based on Full Self-Driving) engaged. In Austin, some vehicles operate unsupervised (no in-car safety monitor); in the Bay Area, a safety driver is present as required by California law. A teleoperator can remotely assist/pilot a vehicle at speeds under 10 mph for repositioning. Tesla's purpose-built, steering-wheel-free Cybercab, intended as the dedicated robotaxi vehicle at scale, was expected to begin production around April 2026 (not yet the deployed service vehicle as of early 2026). Maturity: pilot (early commercial service under heavy supervision and scrutiny; not yet at-scale).","formFactor":"av","industryVertical":"passenger_transport","environment":"road","maturityStage":"pilot","lifecycleState":"active","supersededByModelId":null,"specs":{"autonomy_level":"unsupervised in Austin, safety driver present in Bay Area"},"manufacturerSerial":null,"reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://electrek.co/2026/05/26/tesla-robotaxi-fleet-shrinking-not-growing/","title":"Tesla robotaxi active fleet shrinking — ~20 unsupervised US-wide (14 Austin / 3 Dallas / 3 Houston); Bay Area ~9 active; peaked Dec 2025–Jan 2026 (May 26 2026)","sourceName":"Electrek"},{"url":"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-28/tesla-reveals-its-texas-robotaxi-fleet-is-dwarfed-by-waymo-s","title":"Tesla's Texas robotaxi fleet is 42 vehicles (official TX DMV registration), dwarfed by Waymo's (May 28 2026)","sourceName":"Bloomberg"},{"url":"https://www.tesla.com/we-robot","title":"Tesla — robotaxi (We, Robot)","sourceName":"Tesla (official)"}],"aliases":["Tesla Robotaxi","Tesla Model Y robotaxi"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"manufacturerTermForTeleop":null,"keyFacts":[{"label":"Operating speed","value":"under 10 mph for teleoperator remote assist"},{"label":"Production target","value":"around April 2026 for Cybercab"},{"label":"Autonomy level","value":"unsupervised in Austin, safety driver present in Bay Area"},{"label":"Q2 2026 robotaxi miles","value":"380,000+ unsupervised miles, zero notable incidents, across 6 cities in 2 states"},{"label":"FSD paid customers","value":"1.5M globally (55% upfront purchase, 45% subscription)"},{"label":"HW3 upgrade plan","value":"Musk: will upgrade ~4M HW3 vehicles to next-gen AI board (upgraded AI4, mid-2027 production target)"},{"label":"FSD software version","value":"V15 running on robotaxi fleet; V14 Lite on HW3 vehicles"},{"label":"Cities (Q2 2026)","value":"7 metros: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, SF Bay Area"},{"label":"V14 Lite","value":"Runs on HW3 and HW4 vehicles (distilled model, not full v15)"},{"label":"France FSD status","value":"BLOCKED — Transport Minister rejected Article 39 exemption July 2026 (speeding + roundabout concerns)"},{"label":"EU FSD approved","value":"5 countries (Netherlands, Belgium, others), 50M km driven safely"},{"label":"FSD safety data","value":"Tesla claims 12B+ miles, 2x safer than human driving (company-reported)"},{"label":"FSD safety data (company-reported)","value":"7.14B miles with FSD engaged, 1,255 major collisions = 1 per 5.69M miles. ~8x safer than US average (1 per 699K). Rolling 12-month NA data."},{"label":"FSD total miles logged","value":"7,141,797,525 miles (FSD) vs 36.08B (manual w/ active safety) vs 205M (manual w/o)"}],"createdAt":"2026-05-26T17:23:16.405Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-12T04:24:54.914Z","unitsInFieldClaimed":1000,"unitsInFieldVerified":1000,"unitsManufacturedClaimed":null,"unitsManufacturedVerified":null,"unitsAsOf":"2026-07-08T00:00:00.000Z","unitsSource":[{"url":"https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-california-robotaxi-registered-vehicles-drivers-2025-12","label":"Tesla 'Robotaxi' Fleet Jumps to Over 1,000 Registered Vehicles"},{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZBbunKAnFX/","label":"Tesla runs 42"},{"url":"https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-rolls-out-robotaxi-service-miami-2026-07-03/","label":"Tesla expanded its unsupervised robotaxi service to Miami"}],"salesModel":"not_sold","priceUndisclosedSince":null,"autonomyClass":"supervised","autonomyStatement":"We're bringing autonomous rides to you today—starting with Model Y. Autonomous Robotaxi rides are currently being offered in Miami, Florida, and Austin, Texas","autonomyStatementSource":{"url":"https://www.tesla.com/robotaxi","date":"2026-07-03"},"demoForensics":{"notes":"Tesla's robotaxi is now operating in Austin and Miami. The YouTube video shows a real unsupervised ride with no driver or safety monitor. This is a genuine deployment, not just a demo. However, Tesla's \"Full Self-Driving\" has a complex honesty profile: (1) Tesla's own disclaimer says FSD \"may do the wrong thing at the wrong time\" and requires supervision; (2) the robotaxi service uses Model Y vehicles, not the purpose-built Cybercab; (3) Tesla briefly put drivers back behind the wheel after incidents before removing them again; (4) Reddit users report the robotaxi is cautious and slow. The gap: Tesla is operating driverless rides (verified), but the scope is limited to specific cities and the system is less mature than Waymo's. Tesla calls it \"autonomous\" while the underlying FSD software explicitly requires driver supervision in consumer vehicles — the robotaxi configuration removes the driver but the software is the same. This is a real deployment but with more caveats than Waymo.","videoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbPo4rt9vAM","singleTake":"yes","environment":"live_site","speedAltered":"no","autonomyClaimed":"yes","autonomyCorroborated":"partial"},"exportControlClass":null,"minCommitment":null,"warrantyTerms":null,"serviceModel":null,"productionRateClaimed":null,"productionRateEvidenced":null,"teleopRatioDisclosed":null,"interventionRateDisclosed":null},"deployment":null,"company":null,"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"6e4435f7-c7aa-415c-874f-68e9fb8de042","incidentId":"74d91ddc-7b0e-4edb-926c-e0c3ae0af53b","url":"https://electrek.co/2026/07/20/tesla-robotaxi-remote-operator-crash-houston/","label":"Electrek","publishedAt":"2026-07-20T00:00:00.000Z","notes":null,"title":null,"sourceName":"Electrek","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-13T18:58:55.152Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-13T18:58:55.152Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/tesla-houston-robotaxi-remote-operator-tree-stump-may-2026","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/tesla-houston-robotaxi-remote-operator-tree-stump-may-2026","headline":"Tesla Robotaxi driven into tree stump by remote operator in Houston","description":"A Tesla Model Y Robotaxi was being remotely assisted out of a dead-end residential road in Houston when the remote operator drove the vehicle into a hidden tree stump at approximately 2 mph. Property damage only; no injuries, no airbag deployment. This is the third remote-operator-involved crash Tesla has reported to NHTSA and the first formally coded as remote operation in its filing.","identifier":"74d91ddc-7b0e-4edb-926c-e0c3ae0af53b","datePublished":"2026-05-01T00:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"collision","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"},"author":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"unreviewed","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":1,"primary_source_types":[]}}}