NHTSA Data: Tesla Robotaxis Logged 9 Crashes in August, Including the First Cybercab Report

Away from the Roadster fireworks, a quieter dataset landed the same day. On Thursday, October 15, 2026, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) posted its latest Standing General Order crash data for automated driving systems, covering reports through September 15. It includes Tesla’s Robotaxi reports for August — and the first one involving a Cybercab.

Nine reports, no injuries

According to Tesla News Wire’s read of the data, Tesla reported nine crashes in August 2026: five in Dallas, three in Austin and one in Tampa. All nine list property damage and no injuries. That brings Tesla to 36 ADS crash reports since the current order took effect on June 16, 2025, and makes August the busiest month so far (the next highest was five, in January 2026).

The first Cybercab entry: a pothole

Tesla’s narrative says a Cybercab was “proceeding straight in a parking lot going as fast as 5MPH and drove into a large pothole filled with water”, with a safety monitor aboard and no passengers. It happened in August, before public Cybercab rides opened in Austin on September 4. Drive Tesla Canada notes no further Cybercab incidents appear through September 15.

What the other reports describe

• Remote operators in control twice: touching a dumpster in an Austin alley at about 1 mph, and hitting a parked SUV in Dallas at 0.40 mph. No passengers either time.
• Chains across driveways: robotaxis in Tampa and Dallas drove into low-hanging metal chains at parking lot exits and entrances (3–4 mph).
• Tight alleys in Dallas: contact with a utility meter at 0.45 mph and a guardrail at 0.25 mph.
• Other drivers: a pickup pulled into a robotaxi’s path in Dallas, and an SUV rear-ended a robotaxi stopped at a yield sign in Austin with three passengers inside.

Read with care

NHTSA cautions that these reports aren’t adjusted for fleet size or miles driven, and Tesla doesn’t publish robotaxi mileage alongside them. The fleet is growing fast: Texas records listed 349 Cybercabs as of October 14. CyberCab.News adds that September’s five-day reports list 12 crashes from Waymo, Zoox and Motional and none from Tesla, but minor September crashes will only appear in later monthly filings. NHTSA is also still auditing how Tesla self-certified the steering-wheel-free Cybercab.

Rocks take

Seven of the nine August reports list a pre-crash speed of 3 mph or less, and the pattern — chains, alleys, potholes, remote take-overs — looks like the awkward edge cases of urban driving rather than highway drama. Without miles driven, though, no one can calculate a crash rate. We’ll keep tracking each monthly release as Cybercab expands toward Dallas.