A Waymo autonomous vehicle goes through standing water *April 30 in Austin. Waymo, Tesla and other AV developers are facing pressure from federal regulators on how they operate around emergency scenes.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
A Tesla Cybercab is on display during the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals. The Austin automaker produces the purpose-built robotaxi at Gigafactory Texas.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Federal highway safety regulators want immediate answers from Waymo, Tesla, Zoox and other makers of self-driving cars about how they plan to keep the vehicles from getting in the way of emergency services.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has documented dozens of incidents across the country it said are part of “a clear pattern of driverless (autonomous vehicles) interfering with law enforcement or other first responders.”
Article continues below this ad
The “recent, disturbing trend” has prompted a strongly worded letter to carmakers and a call to action requiring them to meet with the agency on the issue by the end of the month.
According to the agency, recent examples of interference include incidents where robotaxis “drove directly into active emergency scenes, blocked the paths of ambulances and firefighters, or failed to recognize and respond to basic safety conditions like flashing lights, flares, smoke, fire, and traffic cones.”
RELATED: Records show Waymo robotaxi entered floodwaters near dangerous San Antonio crossing
NHTSA cites Texas incidents involving autonomous vehicles
There have been nearly two dozen such episodes in Austin, including one in March where several Waymo robotaxis blocked emergency medical services responding to a mass shooting. In March in San Antonio, a human driving a Waymo car was cited for crossing barriers at an active house fire.
Article continues below this ad
San Antonio Express News Logo
Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.
Add Preferred Source
“This is unacceptable,” wrote Jonathan Morrison, the NHTSA administrator. “To state it bluntly: an AV that cannot safely interact with first responders is a danger to the general public.”
Several types of self-driving vehicles, including Waymo, Tesla Inc.’s Robotaxi, Avride and Zoox, operate in cities across Texas.
Industry leader Waymo has vehicles in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, but its San Antonio service remains shut down after one of its unoccupied cars drove itself into floodwaters on April 20.
Article continues below this ad
READ MORE: Tesla’s robotaxis may be coming to San Antonio soon
Tesla’s Robotaxi-branded Model Ys are operating in Austin, Dallas and Houston and the company appears to have plans for San Antonio. Most of those cars still have human safety monitors onboard.
Morrison wrote that an autonomous vehicle disrupting emergency vehicles is more than a “minor software anomaly” and that the technology must “get out of the way, not disrupt their life saving mission or compound the danger they face.”
He called on autonomous vehicle developers and operators to focus resources on fixing this issue.
Article continues below this ad
“Let me be clear: the inability to detect and appropriately respond to such situations represents a functional insufficiency,” he wrote. “Emergency scenes are not rare or extreme ‘edge cases.’ ”
MORE AUTONOMY: Texas-built drone boats strike Iran in first such U.S. mission
Waymo’s Texas operations remain under scrutiny
Google spinoff Waymo began service in Austin in March 2025 and now operates about 250 vehicles in a 140-square-mile service area of the city. Waymo began limited service in San Antonio in February, with dozens of its Waymo Driver system-equipped vehicles operating in a 60-square-mile service area.
Article continues below this ad
In May, the company briefly shut down its operations across Texas, as well as in Nashville and Atlanta during a period of intense storms.
Only the San Antonio service remains offline and Waymo hasn’t said when it expects to resume operations.
Outside of Texas, Waymo also operates in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Nashville, Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Tesla’s only Robotaxi offering outside of Texas is in Miami. It offers a human-operated ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay area.