This has increased the number of remote takeover incidents in relevant data to five. Moreover, all remote takeovers that appeared in Tesla's collision reports ended in collisions.
Two newly disclosed pieces of information
Both incidents occurred in August and are reflected in the data published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in September. Tesla has now submitted 36 separate accident reports, which is an increase from the 22 reports we saw in July.
In Dallas (report 13781-16678), a Model Y was parked on a residential street, with a cement mixer truck on the right side and a parked SUV on the left side. Tesla stated: "A remote support operator took over remotely, and as the vehicle moved forward, it came into contact with a SUV at a speed of about 0.40 miles per hour." There were no passengers in the vehicle.
In Austin (report 13781-16679), a remote operator, while "under control," drove a Model Y straight through a narrow alley where there were utility poles on one side and trash cans on the other. The vehicle collided with the trash cans at a speed of about 1 mile per hour. There were no passengers in the vehicle either.
Both accidents only resulted in property damage, the speeds were close to walking speed, and both incidents utilized the structured code from Tesla's "Driver / Operator Type" field: "Remote ( Commercial / Test)". This was also the first time Tesla used this field in the tree stump collision accident in Houston in May. Of these five accidents, three have now been officially classified as remote operations.
Five accidents, the same script
The other two incidents were made public because Tesla removed the omissions from their accident reports in May. In July 2025, in Austin, a safety monitor was unable to get the vehicle to move forward; after a remote driver took over, the vehicle accelerated, turned left, and drove along the roadside at a speed of 8 miles per hour, hitting a metal fence. In January 2026, also in Austin, while a remote driver was providing navigation assistance, the vehicle hit a construction barrier at a speed of 9 miles per hour.
When you look at these accidents together, the scenario is always the same: the autonomous driving system freezes or needs assistance, followed by human remote control, and then humans cause the car to crash.
The problem is that Tesla has not disclosed the frequency of remote operator interventions, so it is impossible to calculate the incidence rate. However, there have already been 5 instances of remote takeover in accident data, and all 5 ended with contact, a 5-5 ratio.
Waymo draws distinct boundaries.
Tesla's main competitor has adopted a different approach, and it has made this clear in official documents. In a letter to Senator [name] in February 2026, [company name] stated that the company "does not use remote driving or ‘[term missing in original text]’, which means that dynamic driving tasks are performed by humans." The remote employees of [company name] only provide suggestions to [management level missing in original text]; the system can accept or reject these suggestions; they do not turn the steering wheel.
Waymo There is also a narrow exception to this rule, which describes a scenario that is almost identical to those encountered with Tesla: trained personnel can gently push a stuck vehicle forward at a constant steering angle and a speed of 2 miles per hour in order to clear the lane. Waymo It is indicated that this tool has never been used outside of training scenarios.
Therefore, both companies have developed methods to rescue vehicles that are stuck. Waymo limits their version to extremely low speeds and a fixed direction, and according to them, it has never been deployed on public roads.
Views of Electrek
We pointed out this pattern in the accident in Houston in July, and since then, two more incidents have been reported. The severity is not the main concern. Tesla's Robotaxi is already limited to road surfaces and lower speeds, and it seems that the speed will be further restricted when remote operators take over.
No one was injured; what we discussed was hitting bumpers, trash cans, and tree stumps at a walking speed.
What really matters is the frequency at which these vehicles still require human intervention to resolve situations, and how much worse things can get once someone takes over. Remote control is a quiet aspect of autonomous driving technology that no one likes to talk about. Driving a car via cellular networks or satellite links means dealing with delays, limited visibility, and the inability to receive physical feedback from the vehicle itself.
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