Investigations, recalls, and enforcement
The official record of when regulators have looked into, recalled, or acted against a robotaxi. Everything here comes from a government document, an NHTSA investigation or recall, a state DMV action, or a utilities-commission order, and links straight to it. These are the regulators' actions, not our judgments.
How to read this
An open investigation is not a finding of fault; it means a regulator is asking questions. A recall usually means the maker filed a software fix, sometimes precautionary, not that cars were pulled off the road. And raw counts need context: a handful of incidents across millions of miles is a different thing from the same number across a few thousand. Cruise wound down its robotaxi at the end of 2024; its record is kept here for completeness.
By the numbers
- NHTSA investigations
- 2
- Recalls
- 4
- Units in recalls
- 9,546
- Binding actions
- 0
- NHTSA investigations
- 3
- Recalls
- 0
- Units in recalls
- 0
- Binding actions
- 0
- NHTSA investigations
- 1
- Recalls
- 2
- Units in recalls
- 375
- Binding actions
- 0
- NHTSA investigations
- 1
- Recalls
- 1
- Units in recalls
- 950
- Binding actions
- 3
A tally of official actions, drawn from the filings below. More actions often reflects greater scale or more transparency, not necessarily less safety, so weigh them against how many vehicles each operator runs. Cruise's total is a closed chapter; it wound down in 2024.
Waymo
Driving into closed freeway construction zones at speed
Waymo recalled the software on 3,871 fifth-generation driving systems because it could let the vehicle enter a closed freeway construction zone and keep driving at speed, which raises the risk of a crash. The permanent fix, a software update to detect and avoid construction zones, was still under development at filing; in the meantime Waymo restricted freeway driving.
source ↗Slowing but not stopping for flooded high-speed lanes
Waymo recalled the software on 3,791 driverless-capable vehicles (5th and 6th generation driving systems built between March 2022 and April 2026) because on higher-speed roads the car might slow but not stop when it detected a potentially untraversable flooded lane; entering one can mean losing control of the vehicle. The remedy was not a code fix but a narrower operating scope: from 20 April 2026 Waymo excluded conditions with an elevated risk of flooded high-speed roads through weather-related operational controls and map changes.
source ↗Investigation: stopping for school buses
NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation into Waymo's driverless system over whether it fails to stop for a stopped school bus while children are boarding or getting off. It covers an estimated 2,000 vehicles.
source ↗Recall: collisions with gates and chains
Waymo recalled the software on 1,212 vehicles after they were involved in low-speed collisions with chains, gates, and similar barriers. No injuries were reported, and the fix was a software update.
source ↗Recall: collisions with poles
Waymo recalled software on 672 vehicles after the system could, in specific conditions, collide with a pole or similar object while pulling over. It was fixed with a software and map update.
source ↗Investigation: unexpected driving behavior
NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation into Waymo's driverless system after 22 reports of unexpected behavior, including hitting stationary objects like gates and parked cars and apparently disobeying traffic-control devices.
source ↗Tesla
Petition: Robotaxis speeding through active school zones
NHTSA opened a defect petition covering about 1,000 model-year 2026 Tesla Robotaxis (Model Y and Cybercab) after a petitioner alleged, with three videos, that the driving system exceeds posted speed limits in active school zones. ODI received the petition on 23 September 2026 and counts four incident reports so far, none involving a crash or injury. A defect petition is a preliminary step: the agency evaluates the allegation and then grants it (opening a formal investigation) or denies it.
source ↗Audit of the Cybercab's safety self-certification
The same day Tesla put the Cybercab into service in Austin, NHTSA opened an audit query into Tesla's self-certification that the car, which has no steering wheel or pedals, meets all federal safety standards. It will examine the technical basis Tesla used to certify a vehicle built without human controls. About 1,000 vehicles.
source ↗Investigation: traffic-law violations on Full Self-Driving
NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation into Tesla's Full Self-Driving, the software its Robotaxi builds on, after reports of running red lights and driving against the direction of traffic. The filing catalogues 58 incidents, including 14 crashes and 23 injuries.
source ↗Zoox
Not detecting heavy smoke at emergency scenes
Zoox recalled the software on 105 driving systems because it could fail to detect heavy smoke and let the vehicle drive into an area of low visibility, particularly an active emergency scene, which raises the risk of a crash or of getting in the way of first responders. Zoox says the software has been updated. It lands three months after NHTSA told every developer that a driverless car unable to deal with first responders is a danger to the public.
source ↗Recall: misjudging a car pulling out
Zoox recalled software on 270 vehicles after an April 2025 Las Vegas collision, in which, above 40 mph, the system could be over-confident about a car edging out of a driveway that then stopped. No injuries; it was remedied across the fleet.
source ↗Investigation: unexpected braking
NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation into Zoox after two cases in which a Zoox-equipped test vehicle braked unexpectedly and a following motorcyclist ran into it, each causing minor injuries.
source ↗Cruise
$1.5M penalty for incomplete crash reports
NHTSA fined Cruise $1.5M under a consent order after it filed incomplete reports about the October 2023 incident in which a driverless Cruise dragged a pedestrian about 20 feet. Cruise agreed to a corrective plan and extra federal oversight.
source ↗Ordered to explain itself to California regulators
The California Public Utilities Commission ordered Cruise to appear and show why it should not be sanctioned for failing to give the Commission complete information about the October 2023 pedestrian incident, and for misleading public comments.
source ↗Recall: post-collision pull-over behavior
Cruise recalled software on 950 driverless vehicles over the pull-over behavior involved in the pedestrian-dragging incident, where the car pulled to the side instead of staying put after a collision.
source ↗California suspends Cruise's driverless permits
The California DMV immediately suspended Cruise's driverless deployment and testing permits, citing an unreasonable risk to public safety and misrepresentation of safety information. Testing with a safety driver was unaffected.
source ↗Investigation: caution around pedestrians (closed)
NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation into whether Cruise's system exercised appropriate caution around pedestrians, including the post-collision pullover that dragged a person. NHTSA later closed it after Cruise ceased operations.
source ↗Industry-wide
NHTSA warns AV makers over first responders
NHTSA said it had identified a pattern of driverless vehicles interfering with police and first responders, driving into active emergency scenes, blocking ambulances and fire crews, and not responding to flashing lights or flares, and said it would keep using its enforcement authority against makers that do not fix it.
source ↗