Tesla’s Robotaxi Tech Is So Revolutionary, It’s Moving The ‘Safety Monitor’ To The Driver’s Seat

Tesla is all about innovation. After all, how many other automakers could take a sedan MotorTrend loved and turn it into a crossover MotorTrend absolutely hated? Or build a truck that had to be recalled eight times for, among other things, body panels flying off on the road? And while lame, dumb companies such as Waymo don’t come with a human in the robotaxi, Tesla is once again the innovator here, with Electrek reporting the company has moved its safety monitors to the driver’s seat. If that’s not robotaxi innovation, I don’t know what is.

Allegedly, this change is because Tesla’s robotaxis now operate on highways, as well as surface streets, and it’s true that crashes are more dangerous at highway speeds. Waymo dealt with that issue by making sure its robotaxis were safe enough to operate on highways, but who needs that? As Tesla so ingeniously figured out, you don’t need vehicles that can safely drive themselves to their destinations to launch a robotaxi service. You just need a Level 2 driver-assistance system and someone sitting in the driver’s seat to correct all the mistakes the system makes. 

The haters will, of course, say we already have that, and it’s just an Uber ride from a driver who owns a Tesla, but those people don’t understand business. Do those people own companies with a $1 trillion market cap? No, they do not. Elon Musk does, though, and it’s all because he understands businesses thrive on innovation. 

There’s also likely more to Tesla’s decision to stick a driver safety monitor into the driver’s seat than just highway safety, though. While Texas used to be a truly free state, that changed starting September 1, and Governor Greg “Communism Lover” Abbott has gone fully woke:

The timing also aligns with the new Texas Senate Bill 2807, which now governs the deployment of automated driving systems in the state, coming into effect on September 1st.

Prior to this law, Texas was relatively permissive regarding autonomous vehicle testing under earlier statutes, such as SB 2205 (2017), which allowed operation without a human driver as long as vehicles complied with traffic laws, had recording devices, and met federal standards.

However, SB 2807 introduces stricter oversight for truly driverless operations, including requirements for safety data reporting, first-responder interaction plans, and potential revocation of authorization if safety standards aren’t met.

Companies must also demonstrate that their systems can achieve a “minimal risk condition” (e.g., safely pulling over) in case of failure and need to qualify as a level 4-5 autonomous driving based on the SAE standard.

Since Tesla’s so-called “Full Self-Driving” software is only Level 2 and can’t even be bothered to stop for a school bus, Chairman Abbott planned to steal their freedom to operate driverless robotaxis under these new burdensome regulations. But by moving the safety monitor into the driver’s seat and making them the legal driver, they can get around that little “our cars aren’t actually self-driving” issue.