Tesla is now running what autonomous vehicle researchers estimate to be roughly 25 driverless vehicles on public roads in Austin, Houston, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, based on vehicle identification number tracking, sighting databases, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filings compiled in recent weeks. The vehicles appear to operate without a human safety driver behind the wheel, making them among the first unsupervised robotaxis Tesla has deployed outside of controlled demonstration settings. Neither Tesla nor any Texas state agency has confirmed the fleet count, the specific cities of operation, or the fully driverless status of these vehicles.
A review of Texas state records reveals a notable gap: Tesla does not appear on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s registry of companies that have submitted first responder interaction plans for their autonomous vehicles. That registry exists for a specific reason: to give firefighters, paramedics, and police the manufacturer-specific guidance they need when they arrive at a crash scene involving a driverless car.
What the state’s records show
Texas DPS maintains a public page listing every autonomous vehicle operator that has filed a first responder interaction plan with the state. As of late May 2026, Tesla is absent from that list. Other companies operating in Texas, including Waymo, which launched a commercial robotaxi service in Austin in 2024, do appear.
The distinction matters in practical terms. A firefighter responding to a collision involving a Waymo vehicle can consult a filed protocol that explains how to disable the car, where high-voltage components sit, and how to communicate with the company’s remote operations center. For a Tesla robotaxi, no equivalent document is on file through the state’s designated channel…