{"id":417713,"date":"2026-08-26T23:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/417713\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T23:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:40:11","slug":"no-serious-complaints-lawmakers-weigh-impact-of-driverless-vehicles-in-texas-central-austin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/417713\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No serious complaints\u2019: Lawmakers weigh impact of driverless vehicles in Texas | Central Austin"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the presence of driverless cars<\/a> and semitrucks<\/a> increases throughout Texas\u2019 largest cities<\/a>, the state is increasing its oversight of the autonomous vehicle industry.<\/p>\n

The overview<\/p>\n

Texas lawmakers implemented the state\u2019s first safety requirements for autonomous vehicles in 2017, passing a law<\/a> that allowed the state to regulate the industry and limiting local officials\u2019 authority to do so. In 2025, legislators passed Senate Bill 2807<\/a>, which placed oversight of autonomous vehicles in the hands of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and required all AV companies to receive an authorization to operate on Texas roads.<\/p>\n

The Texas Department of Public Safety and local police enforce traffic laws and other road safety concerns related to driverless vehicles.<\/p>\n

The authorization rules<\/a> took effect May 28, meaning all companies operating autonomous vehicles in the state must be actively licensed by the DMV. The agency is responsible for:<\/p>\n

Setting safety, insurance and operational standards for autonomous vehiclesEnforcing compliance with the standardsEnsuring autonomous vehicles can safely follow traffic laws and respond to system failuresSuspending or revoking companies\u2019 authorizations if they do not meet state standards<\/p>\n

A vehicle is considered autonomous or driverless if it is operated with Level 4 or Level 5 automation under SAE International\u2019s automation standards<\/a>, meaning the vehicle requires little to no human involvement.<\/p>\n

Texans can find information about approved AV operators and submit complaints through the DMV\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s happening<\/p>\n

In the roughly three months since the rules took effect, the DMV has received 42 complaints about driverless vehicles, officials told the Senate Transportation Committee<\/a> during an Aug. 25 hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three complaints were dismissed because they were off-topic, including a complaint about AV operation in Arizona, a payroll concern submitted by an AV company and a complaint about an AV\u2019s door being opened into another vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at those 39, what should the people of Texas be most concerned with and what are the most common safety occurrences that you’re seeing?\u201d state Sen. Tan Parker, a Flower Mound Republican who chairs the committee, asked.<\/p>\n

Corrie Thompson, who leads the DMV\u2019s enforcement division, said most complaints were about autonomous vehicles being \u201coverly courteous,\u201d such as a vehicle waiting too long at a stoplight or stopping for pedestrians who are near a crosswalk but not actively crossing the street.<\/p>\n

Thompson said the DMV has the authority to suspend or revoke an AV company\u2019s authorization if it finds that an AV \u201cendangers the public… when the operation has resulted in or is likely to result in serious bodily injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo date, we haven’t received anything that has led us to issue that notice of intent to pursue the revocation or the suspension [of an authorization] or impose a restriction, but we are still evaluating them to see where the department lies and what is going to reach that standard,\u201d Thompson told lawmakers Aug. 25. \u201cWe are getting ready to close out a number of [complaints], some for insufficient evidence received, … and then others for no violation found in response to the attorney review.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, requested clarification that the department had received \u201cno serious complaints\u201d about autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot that I’ve seen to date,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, R-Denton, said he had trouble accessing the state\u2019s complaint system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went on the portal to try to figure out how to make a complaint, and it wasn’t really easy to do,\u201d Hagenbuch told TxDMV officials. \u201cI think you\u2019ve got to just take a look at that and make sure that the public actually can access it easily enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terri Hall, founder of the advocacy group Texans United for Reform & Freedom<\/a>, echoed Hagenbuch\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know how I would call or get ahold of anybody if there’s a problem with a Waymo,\u201d she told the committee. \u201cWe’ve seen Waymos that’ll park and drop people off literally in the middle of a lane\u2014they’re not even in a safe spot. How is someone supposed to report that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zooming in<\/p>\n

Lawmakers said they wanted to ensure driverless vehicles were not rolling out too quickly in Texas, but largely lauded the industry\u2019s performance so far and said they hoped the vehicles would help reduce fatal crashes on Texas roads.<\/p>\n

Since Nov. 7, 2000, at least one person has died on Texas roads every day, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. The department reported 4,150 traffic fatalities in 2024, with state and local officials investing in roadway safety projects and initiatives in attempts to address the state\u2019s \u201cstubbornly high\u201d level of roadway deaths, Community Impact reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 4,000 fatalities a year on our roads\u2014the most of any state\u2014and I do think that over time, this is going to be part of the solution to solving that problem,\u201d Hagenbuch said. \u201cWe’ve got to continue to watch, but so far, after a decade of operation, I have not heard of any major accidents or fatalities [caused by autonomous vehicles].<\/p>\n

In early August, a man was killed after he stepped into the road in Dallas, was struck by a human-driven car and was thrown into the path of a Waymo traveling the opposite direction, which also hit him. The man later died and no one has been deemed at fault for the accident, TxDMV officials said.<\/p>\n

Thompson said the agency first learned about the Dallas collision through media reports, not from Waymo. Chandler Ludwick, Waymo\u2019s Southwest Policy Manager, told lawmakers that the fatality happened late on a Friday night, so he reached out to the DMV, state officials and local leaders the following morning.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a Waymo briefly blocked an ambulance from getting to the scene of the deadly March 1 Sixth Street shooting<\/a> in Austin.<\/p>\n

Ludwick said the Waymo got stuck between \u201ctwo sets of sirens\u201d and was in first responders\u2019 way for about 28 seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time the ambulance came up, an officer had our vehicle moved in 28 seconds, approximately,\u201d he said Aug. 25. \u201cWe’re very fortunate that Austin officials said that it did not have a noticeable impact on patient outcomes, but regardless, we need to be better than that, and we put a lot of time and effort into being better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

All autonomous vehicle operators are required to submit \u201cfirst responder interaction plans\u201d to the DPS detailing what their driverless vehicles will do in emergencies and how they will communicate with first responders. Approved plans are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ludwick and TxDMV officials said they did not believe Waymo\u2019s first responder interaction plan was adjusted after the March 1 incident.<\/p>\n

Lt. William White, who leads the Austin Police Department\u2019s highway enforcement division, said the agency has seen consistent issues with AVs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have issues, and more than that, the same issues seem to occur repeatedly, which is both frustrating and dispiriting for our first responders,\u201d he said Aug. 25.<\/p>\n

White noted that it is harder to ticket an autonomous vehicle for a traffic violation. When a driver is ticketed, law enforcement will require them to sign the traffic citation, but the same cannot be done without a driver, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process [to cite an AV] is overly cumbersome, and officers are significantly less motivated to go through the process each time they witness a violation by an AV, which is common,\u201d White told lawmakers. \u201cWe believe AVs should be accountable for their driving behavior the same way Texans are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another perspective<\/p>\n

Hall and Rachel Hale, assistant director of TURF, said they were concerned that driverless vehicles are not subject to enough scrutiny and could pose national security threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question before you is not whether this technology is impressive,\u201d Hale said. \u201cThe question is whether Texas has proven that fully autonomous vehicles can safely handle the unpredicted conditions of our roads and whether our laws adequately protect the public when the technology fails.\u201d<\/p>\n

They asked senators to consider requiring:<\/p>\n

\u201cComprehensive, transparent\u201d reports on autonomous vehicles\u2019 collisions and near missesIndependent safety testingStrict cybersecurity standards to prevent hacks of autonomous vehicle systems\u201cClear accountability\u201d when issues arise with driverless carsPublic input before autonomous vehicle companies are allowed to expand<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I speak for my fellow colleagues that the national security issues, the adversarial nation concerns that we have, … [we] are all very focused on that,\u201d Parker said. \u201cSo I appreciate you sharing those thoughts and helping us to go deeper and think further through all these issues that are vitally important.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the presence of driverless cars and semitrucks increases throughout Texas\u2019 largest cities, the state is increasing its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,4761,145571,145575,145572,145574,145581,145582,145584,145579,19137,117898,145583,145573,8538,145577,145578,145570,145580,2785,293,1863,9977,54376,51079,145576,32448],"class_list":["post-417713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-austin-police-department","tag-autonomous-semi-trucks","tag-autonomous-vehicle-complaints","tag-autonomous-vehicle-law","tag-autonomous-vehicle-traffic-enforcement","tag-av-law","tag-av-regulations","tag-chandler-ludwick-waymo","tag-city-of-austin-autonomous-vehicle-incidents","tag-driverless-vehicles","tag-interim-hearing","tag-lt-william-white","tag-sb-2807","tag-sen-charles-perry","tag-sen-tan-parker","tag-senate-transportation-committee","tag-texas-autonomous-vehicles","tag-texas-av","tag-texas-dps","tag-texas-legislature","tag-texas-senate","tag-traffic-congestion","tag-txdmv","tag-waymo-austin","tag-waymo-austin-shooting","tag-waymo-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}