Tesla Robotaxi Involved in 1st Official Accident – A Tesla Employee had to Take Over & Drive the ‘Robotaxi’ After It Turned Its Wheels & Crashed Straight Into a Parked Toyota Camry

The Tesla Robotaxi trial in Austin, Texas, has recorded its first official vehicle accident.

The accident was recorded on video by Chris, a Tesla enthusiast from the Tesla-focused ‘Dirty Tesla’ YouTube channel.

Chris is part of the select group of individuals invited to participate in the early robotaxi trial. He reports having taken 50 robotaxi rides, covering more than 250 miles, and this was the first accident he experienced.

The Robotaxi accident occurred while the vehicle was entering a crowded parking lot at a restaurant called Home Slice Pizza.

Navigating the Home Slice Pizza parking lot can be difficult because customers park on both sides of the driveway leading into it.

Chris first visited the restaurant during the day and noticed a slightly odd behavior where the Robotaxi unnecessarily got too close to a brick wall on one side.

Given there was plenty of space on the other side, Chris questioned why the Robotaxi was exhibiting this behavior.

Curious Chris returned to the same spot in the Robotaxi, and on his second visit, the vehicle successfully navigated the Home Slice Pizza driveway without difficulties and kept a safe distance from the short wall on one side.

Happy with the results, Chris wanted to showcase the improvements the Robotaxi was already making, and during the night, Chris hailed an autonomous ride to the same location.

This time, Chris was even joined by other Tesla enthusiasts he met online who wanted to tag along on the Robotaxi drive.

Like all the previous drives, the Robotaxi reached the Home Slice Pizza parking entrance without any problems. However, this time, cars were parked on both sides of the driveway, creating a narrow gap for the Robotaxi to enter the lot.

At this point, the Robotaxi gave up at the narrowest part and notified Chris and his guest that the drive was over, instructing them to leave the vehicle at the parking lot entrance.

Although the Robotaxi didn't drop them off inside the parking lot, Chris understood why the vehicle chose to end the trip at the entrance and left the vehicle.

So far, things had been going mostly fine; however, the accident occurred after Chris left the Robotaxi, and the vehicle began a maneuver to exit the tight driveway.

The Robotaxi, which had initially come to a complete stop, turned its wheels fully to the left and began driving directly toward a Toyota Camry parked only inches away from it.

At this point, just as everyone expected the Robotaxi to crash into the Camry, it came to a sudden stop.

However, before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the Robotaxi resumed movement and drove straight into the Toyota Camry.

The Robotaxi’s hazard lights came on, and the autonomous vehicle stopped.

At this point, Chris was hoping that the Tesla employee (safety monitor) sitting in the passenger seat had intervened in time to stop the vehicle just before it made contact.

However, the Toyota Camry owner, who was standing nearby, closely inspected the contact area and declared that the Robotaxi’s tires had crashed into his door.

Chris also managed to get close to the crash site with his camera on and showed that the Model Y’s tires were indeed on the Carmery’s doors.

This marks not only the first official accident involving the Tesla fully autonomous Robotaxi, but also the first accident it caused.

Thankfully for Tesla, there was only a small gap between the Robotaxi and the Camry, which meant the Robotaxi didn’t have enough room to accelerate and cause greater damage.

From the looks of it, the accident appears to be very minor.

Another interesting point here is that, according to Chris, after the crash, the Tesla “safety monitor” had to exit the passenger seat, enter the driver’s seat, and drive the ‘Robotaxi’ out of the parking spot.

This is an interesting development, given that Tesla hopes to produce vehicles without steering wheels and pedals in the near future.

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Image: Screenshot from Dirty Tesla YouTube channel

For more information, check out: A Tesla Cybertruck Enthusiast From Arizona Says He Wants to Buy a Cybertruck, but He’s Worried How the Truck’s Stainless Steel Will React in the Heat – Adds, “I Don’t Have a Garage, & I’m Concerned About the 115°F Summers”

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.