While Tesla pushes its self-driving cars into busy city streets, new data shows the company’s Autopilot system is actually getting less safe. The electric car maker’s own reports reveal that crashes happened every 6.69 million miles in the second quarter of 2025. That’s worse than the 6.88 million miles between crashes during the same period in 2024.
The safety decline isn’t just a one-time problem. In the first quarter of 2025, Tesla’s Autopilot crashed every 7.44 million miles, down from 7.63 million miles a year earlier. This means Tesla’s self-driving technology got worse in both quarters compared to 2024, even as the company claims it’s constantly improving.
These troubling numbers come just as Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas in June 2025. Videos have already shown these driverless cars speeding and driving erratically through city streets. The problems caught the attention of federal regulators quickly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started investigating Tesla’s robotaxis after reports of traffic violations.
CEO Elon Musk called the urban robotaxi launch the “culmination of a decade of hard work.” But critics point out serious flaws in how Tesla measures safety. The company only counts crashes that set off airbags or safety restraints. Minor accidents don’t make it into their statistics. Tesla also won’t share the actual number of crashes or total miles driven, making it impossible for outsiders to check their math.
There’s another problem with Tesla’s safety claims. The Autopilot system mostly works on highways, which are much safer than city streets. Federal crash statistics mix all types of roads together, but Tesla’s numbers focus on the safest driving conditions. Now the company wants to bring this technology into complex urban areas where crashes happen more often.
Tesla already faces a California court case about false advertising for its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features. The company needs regulatory approval to expand its robotaxi vision. But with safety numbers going in the wrong direction and investigations piling up, Tesla’s ambitious plans for self-driving cars in cities might hit serious roadblocks.