Lawmakers urge Tesla to delay Austin robotaxi launch over compliance concerns

A group of state lawmakers is asking Tesla Inc. to delay its planned robotaxi launch until it demonstrates compliance with state law.

Democratic members of the state Senate and House of Representatives sent a letter this week asking the automaker to put off its self-driving ride-hailing service until after Sept. 1, when new statewide autonomous vehicle regulations go into effect.

"We believe this is in the best interest of both public safety and building public trust in Tesla’s operations," the seven lawmakers said in the letter, sent Tuesday to Tesla Director of Field Quality Eddie Gates.

RELATED: Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin now slated for 'tentative date' of June 22

The rules passed this session revised the state’s 2017 autonomous vehicle operations framework, which — among other things — limited municipalities’ ability to make their own regulations or laws regarding autonomous vehicles within city or county limits, giving relatively loose control to the state.

The new framework requires operators of autonomous vehicles "transporting passengers or property" to get prior authorization from the Department of Motor Vehicles before operating on public streets without a human driver. To get this authorization, the operator has to prove that its vehicles:

• Can operate while complying with state traffic laws.
• Are equipped with a recording device.
• Comply with federal laws and federal motor vehicle safety standards.
• Achieve a minimal risk condition if the automated self-driving tech is rendered inoperable.
• Are registered, titled and insured under Texas law.

The letter says operators also must submit a First Responder Interaction Plan to the Department of Public Safety, which is to detail how police, firefighters and paramedics should interact with the vehicle and reach fleet support.

It was unclear if Tesla has complied with any of the requirements. It has not responded to requests for comment.

CEO Elon Musk previously said the company had tentative plans to roll out its robotaxis this Sunday in Austin. Human-supervised Model Y-based robotaxis are being tested in the Montopolis and Travis Heights neighborhoods.

"We want to deliberately take it slow," Musk told CNBC last month. "I mean, we could start with 1,000 (robotaxis), 10,000, on day one, but I don’t think that would be prudent. So we will start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40."

If Tesla plans to roll out the service before September, the state lawmakers asked that it first demonstrate its compliance with the state law. Members that signed are Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin; Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin; Rep. Erin Zweiner, D-Driftwood; Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo; Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin; Rep. Lulu Flores, D-Austin; and Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin.

RELATED: Tesla asked the city of Austin to withhold records related to robotaxi launch

The new letter adds to mounting questions over the Tesla’s robotaxi operations.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration previously sent a letter, also addressed to Gates, asking for information about Tesla’s crash reporting, how the robotaxis comply with traffic laws, and its automated emergency response. It also asked for information about how the vehicles operate in low-visibility conditions. Such conditions have been a challenge for Tesla’s software as its autonomous systems rely solely on cameras and machine-learning sensors but lack the radar or LiDAR sensors used on other autonomous vehicles.

That letter came shortly after Tesla announced that its supervised autonomous ride-hailing service was live for some of its employees in Austin and San Francisco. The NHTSA gave Tesla until Friday to respond. As of midday, the investigation was still listed as open and hadn’t been updated with a response from Tesla.