Robotaxis Face Operational Issues in Multiple Cities, Prompting Safety Concerns

Incidents in China and U.S.

A few weeks later, Beijing suspended all new autonomous driving permits nationwide, blocking companies from adding to fleets, starting new tests, or expanding to additional cities, according to Bloomberg. In the U.S., some autonomous vehicles have driven into street lights and entered ongoing crime scenes.

In Austin, robotaxis crashed into fixed objects head-on and in reverse, and hit trees, poles, buses, and trucks within one month. One company's robotaxis are unable to close their own doors, leading the company to hire delivery service workers to close them after passengers exit.

In October 2023, an autonomous vehicle dragged a pedestrian 20 feet.

During anti-ICE protests in downtown Los Angeles in 2025, demonstrators damaged at least six robotaxis by smashing, spray-painting, and setting them on fire. The vehicles reportedly honked in unison as they burned, and activists stated the cars' camera data was shared with police, representing surveillance concerns.

As a result, the company suspended service in the downtown area and paused operations during subsequent protests. In February this year, a robotaxi passed police cars at a live crime scene in Atlanta. A month later, another blocked ambulances in Austin during an active shooter situation.

In December, a major power outage in San Francisco knocked out traffic signals, causing a fleet of 800-1,000 robotaxis to block roads and impede emergency vehicles. At a March 2 hearing on the incident, the executive director of a city's emergency management department stated that public safety officers and responders had to physically move the robotaxis.

The official added that they were becoming a default roadside assistance for these vehicles, which was not considered tenable. The company involved shipped a software update to the vehicles afterward. No federal regulation has followed these events.

The U.S. lacks a federal autonomous vehicle safety law, and a bipartisan House bill from 2026 to create one remains a draft, with earlier versions in 2017 and 2021 failing to pass.

While federal efforts stall, states are advancing legislation to reduce vehicle miles traveled. The Brookings Institution reported that California, Minnesota, Colorado, and Oregon have laws requiring transportation agencies to mitigate such miles. In Colorado, this redirected $900 million from highway expansion to bus rapid transit.

Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are considering similar bills in 2026. Autonomous vehicles at scale are expected to increase total driving, including empty cruises between fares, longer commuter trips, and round-the-clock freight. Tony Han, founder and CEO of Chinese robotaxi startup WeRide, stated at the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh that autonomous vehicles would likely never be 100% safe but would be 10 times safer than humans within a decade.