Texas Cracks Down on Driverless Cars: 300+ AV Crashes Spark Regulatory Firestorm

Texas slams the brakes on autonomous vehicles as safety concerns hit overdrive.

After a staggering 300+ self-driving car crashes since 2019, Lone Star lawmakers are rewriting the rules of the road. The move comes as AV operators face mounting scrutiny—and taxpayers wonder who'll foot the bill when algorithms make million-dollar mistakes.

Key changes hitting the asphalt:

- Stricter testing requirements for AV fleets

- Enhanced data reporting mandates

- Beefed-up insurance minimums (because even robots need liability coverage)

The regulation ramp-up exposes the dirty secret of Silicon Valley's 'move fast and break things' mantra—when what breaks are actual cars, the public tends to notice. Meanwhile, Wall Street keeps betting on AV stocks like they're printing money—never mind that the technology keeps rear-ending reality.

Texas' new rules could become a national blueprint—or just another speed bump in the uneven road to autonomous adoption. Either way, the days of wild west testing appear to be over. Yee-haw.

TLDRs;

• Texas introduces a new permit requirement for driverless vehicles following 370 AV crashes since 2019.
• The law, taking effect September 1, empowers state authorities to regulate, revoke, and oversee AV operations.
• Tesla’s Austin-based robotaxi rollout includes safety monitors, possibly avoiding stricter compliance measures.
• Waymo’s multi-sensor approach highlights a key technological divide with Tesla’s camera-only strategy.

Texas has enacted new legislation requiring autonomous vehicles to obtain operating permits, marking a pivotal shift in the state’s approach to regulating driverless cars.

Governor Greg Abbott recently signed Senate Bill 2807 into law, giving the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles the authority to issue, monitor, and revoke permits for self-driving vehicles that operate without a human driver onboard.

The MOVE follows mounting safety concerns after the state recorded 370 autonomous vehicle crashes between 2019 and 2024, second only to California.

New regulations for Autonomous Vehicles

Beginning September 1, companies seeking to deploy fully autonomous vehicles on Texas roads will need to comply with this permit requirement. The law also mandates that these companies provide clearly defined emergency response procedures to law enforcement and first responders. For a state long seen as a testing ground for futuristic transport technologies due to its business-friendly climate, this regulatory update represents a notable recalibration.

Safety concerns are central to this shift. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports nearly 4,000 AV-related incidents across the U.S. since 2019, including nearly 500 in 2024 alone. Although most did not result in injury, around 10 percent led to serious injuries or fatalities. Texas officials appear to be responding to rising public unease, particularly as AVs become more common in urban centers like Austin.

Tesla Cautious amid Robotaxi Launch

Austin has become the epicenter of the AV rollout, with companies like Tesla and Waymo battling for early dominance. Tesla’s robotaxi initiative, which launched a small-scale service in the city on June 22, employs Model Y vehicles without drivers in the front seat but with a safety monitor in the passenger seat.

This design might allow Tesla to sidestep some of the law’s stricter provisions, which are focused on vehicles operating without any human supervision.

Waymo, on the other hand, continues to expand its own autonomous service in Austin through a partnership with Uber. Unlike Tesla’s camera-only approach, Waymo’s system uses a blend of Lidar, radar, and cameras, creating a more sensor-redundant navigation system. The differing approaches highlight a broader industry debate over the best path to full autonomy.

Tesla’s entry into the robotaxi market comes after years of ambitious, and often missed, targets. Elon Musk had once predicted the rollout of a million robotaxis by 2020, and promised coast-to-coast autonomous trips by 2017. These milestones have repeatedly slipped, with the Austin launch marking Tesla’s most tangible move toward autonomy to date. However, the service remains limited in scope, avoiding complex intersections and bad weather, and only accepting riders aged 18 or older.

New Law Shows need for Unified AV Regulations

Despite these cautious steps, Tesla enters a space already populated by seasoned players. Waymo, for example, conducts around 150,000 paid robotaxi rides weekly in various U.S. cities, backed by years of public testing and billions of simulated miles. Cruise, though currently paused due to regulatory issues, had logged over 10 million driverless miles before setbacks.

Texas’s new law signals a growing consensus that the rapid deployment of autonomous vehicles must be matched by responsible oversight. As the industry continues to evolve, balancing innovation with public safety is becoming a top priority, not just for regulators, but for companies seeking long-term success in this transformative sector.