Tesla’s highly anticipated June 22 Austin rollout of its highly anticipated robotaxi could have hit a roadblock.
On Wednesday, seven lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives and Senate signed a letter requesting Tesla to delay its robotaxi launch until new autonomous driving regulations are scheduled to go into effect on September 1.
The new regulations would require autonomous cars to be registered under Texas law, meet certain safety and vehicle standards, and also be “capable of achieving a minimal risk condition if the automated driving system is rendered inoperable.”
Business Insider reached out to Tesla for comment.
The regulations would also require companies operating autonomous vehicles to provide a First Responder Interaction Plan to the Department of Public Safety detailing how emergency personnel should interact with driverless vehicles.
However, Tesla can still proceed with the June 22 launch if it “respond(s) to this letter with detailed information demonstrating that Tesla will be compliant with the new law upon the launch of driverless operations in Austin,” the lawmakers wrote.
Representative Vikki Goodwin, one of the letter’s authors, expressed concern about Tesla’s self-driving safety measures.
“I don’t know that it is ready to be launched,” Goodwin said of Tesla robotaxis on CBS Austin on Wednesday.
There is more work that needs to be done before they let them loose on the streets,” Goodwin added.
According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the company has been testing its full self-driving cars on the streets of Austin over the last month. On June 10, a driverless Tesla Model Y was spotted on public roads in Austin. In May, Musk announced plans to launch thousands of Tesla robotaxis in Austin, with future plans to expand to cities like San Francisco.
However, in a safety test conducted by The Dawn Project, a group that has been historically critical of Tesla’s self-driving tech, a Tesla Model Y with Full Self-Driving engaged failed to stop in the presence of a school bus stop sign and child-sized dummy, raising concerns about the technology’s safety.
Musk himself did anticipate potential delays in the Tesla robotaxi launch. “We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift,” Musk wrote on X on June 10. But the robotaxi launch is an especially important event that could boost investor confidence in Tesla’s ability to compete in the crowded autonomous vehicle space.
Texas has few existing regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles, making it an attractive hub for self-driving technology. If the launch moves forward, Tesla’s robotaxi will be traveling on Austin’s streets along with Google’s Waymo, Amazon’s Zoox, and ventures funded by automakers VW and Hyundai. Waymo has been offering autonomous ride-hailing services in the city since March in partnership with Uber.
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