NHTSA calls robotaxis "a danger to the public" — same administrator floated dropping steering-wheel rules 24 hours earlier
TL;DR
NHTSA Administrator Morrison on July 9 branded robotaxis "a danger to the public" after Waymo/Tesla/Zoox/Uber vehicles blocked ambulances and firefighters. Fixes due by end of July.
NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison published an open letter on July 9 flatly labeling driverless robotaxis "a danger to the general public." The exact line: "An AV that cannot safely interact with first responders is a danger to the general public." NHTSA has logged multiple reports of robotaxis driving into active emergency scenes, blocking ambulances and firefighters, and interfering with responder operations, and labels the trend a "clear pattern."
Every driverless ADS operator must meet with NHTSA by end of July with a fix in hand. The letter names no companies, but Benzinga confirmed the recipient perimeter covers Waymo, Tesla, Zoox, and Uber — together over 95% of US commercial robotaxi ops. None responded to inquiries in time.
Same Morrison, same day (July 9), also said this — "we would 'absolutely' consider ending the requirement that driverless vehicles include steering wheels and manual controls." 24 hours, complete U-turn: morning greenlight signal on the deregulation the industry has been asking for, afternoon warning letter saying your fleets are a public safety threat. Reads like a regulator playing both cards at once — hold the shutdown threat with one hand, keep a deregulation lane open with the other, so "pass safety first" and "then we relax" get bundled at the same table.
Crash backdrop: Waymo has logged 697 incidents with NHTSA (July 2021 – November 2025) against a fleet of ~3,000 vehicles running 500,000 paid trips per week — the actual crash rate is extremely low. Tesla robotaxi: 18. Avride: 41. Zoox: 32. Waymo has already recalled ~3,900 vehicles after entries into flooded areas and construction zones, Tesla's FSD is under a 3.2M-vehicle investigation, and NTSB opened a separate case on Waymo failing to stop for school buses.
The point is that first-responder interference isn't a crash problem — it's a behavior problem. A Waymo circling an LA firefighting scene or driving past a police tape line adds five minutes to the response, without hitting anyone. Those "soft incidents" don't show up in crash reports. Morrison's letter calls out exactly the category AV makers want to file as "edge case" but which occurs far more often than that word suggests.
Waymo is the industry-defining case. It's the only firm running at multi-city commercial scale. Tesla's robotaxi fleet is still hundreds of units (with many incidents attributed to teleoperator errors, not the ADS), Zoox is just opening rides, Avride is Uber's Eastern European branch. Waymo's end-of-July submission effectively sets NHTSA's enforcement bar for the whole industry.
Win the bet, and the four operators deliver hard-coded first-responder priority + remote-takeover hotline packages by month's end, Morrison uses that to push the "drop the steering wheel" rule through, and expanded driverless production permits land within the year. Lose it, and month-end submissions fall short — NHTSA writes a shutdown order for Waymo, escalates Tesla's 3.2M-vehicle FSD probe into a mandatory recall, and US robotaxi ops freeze for six months in H2 2026.
via CarBuzz / Benzinga / The Cool Down / Basenor
Every driverless ADS operator must meet with NHTSA by end of July with a fix in hand. The letter names no companies, but Benzinga confirmed the recipient perimeter covers Waymo, Tesla, Zoox, and Uber — together over 95% of US commercial robotaxi ops. None responded to inquiries in time.
Same Morrison, same day (July 9), also said this — "we would 'absolutely' consider ending the requirement that driverless vehicles include steering wheels and manual controls." 24 hours, complete U-turn: morning greenlight signal on the deregulation the industry has been asking for, afternoon warning letter saying your fleets are a public safety threat. Reads like a regulator playing both cards at once — hold the shutdown threat with one hand, keep a deregulation lane open with the other, so "pass safety first" and "then we relax" get bundled at the same table.
Crash backdrop: Waymo has logged 697 incidents with NHTSA (July 2021 – November 2025) against a fleet of ~3,000 vehicles running 500,000 paid trips per week — the actual crash rate is extremely low. Tesla robotaxi: 18. Avride: 41. Zoox: 32. Waymo has already recalled ~3,900 vehicles after entries into flooded areas and construction zones, Tesla's FSD is under a 3.2M-vehicle investigation, and NTSB opened a separate case on Waymo failing to stop for school buses.
The point is that first-responder interference isn't a crash problem — it's a behavior problem. A Waymo circling an LA firefighting scene or driving past a police tape line adds five minutes to the response, without hitting anyone. Those "soft incidents" don't show up in crash reports. Morrison's letter calls out exactly the category AV makers want to file as "edge case" but which occurs far more often than that word suggests.
Waymo is the industry-defining case. It's the only firm running at multi-city commercial scale. Tesla's robotaxi fleet is still hundreds of units (with many incidents attributed to teleoperator errors, not the ADS), Zoox is just opening rides, Avride is Uber's Eastern European branch. Waymo's end-of-July submission effectively sets NHTSA's enforcement bar for the whole industry.
Win the bet, and the four operators deliver hard-coded first-responder priority + remote-takeover hotline packages by month's end, Morrison uses that to push the "drop the steering wheel" rule through, and expanded driverless production permits land within the year. Lose it, and month-end submissions fall short — NHTSA writes a shutdown order for Waymo, escalates Tesla's 3.2M-vehicle FSD probe into a mandatory recall, and US robotaxi ops freeze for six months in H2 2026.
via CarBuzz / Benzinga / The Cool Down / Basenor
