Posted on 05/30/2026 6:46:45 AM PDT by eastexsteve
A new Texas law allows companies with SAE Level 4 or higher autonomous vehicles to offer commercial driverless transportation.
Tesla wasted no time in self-certifying their vehicles. On the same day the law went into effect, Tesla officially self-certified their FSD software on their robotaxi vehicles as Level 4 compliant.
For years, Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD software, even in Texas, has navigated the consumer market under the constraints imposed by a Level 2 driver-assist system. And while Tesla now operates in Texas as a level-4 system, this does not change the level-2 designation for consumer vehicles. Taking Responsibility
While many of Tesla’s robotaxi rides in Austin were already driverless, there’s an important distinction in level 4 autonomy.
By certifying its software as Level 4 for commercial operations, Tesla is willfully absorbing a substantial portion of the operational liability. It’s legally stating that its vehicles can operate themselves without any human supervision or intervention under certain conditions.
These conditions are typically based on weather, region (geofense), or speed.
This willingness to take on legal accountability is a major turning point for Tesla, as it is the first time the company has been certified as a level 4 system.
SAE International defines a Level-4 autonomous vehicle as:
Entire dynamic driving task (DDT): The system does all steering, braking, accelerating, lane changes, signaling, and monitoring of the driving environment.
Dynamic driving task fallback: If something goes wrong (sensor failure, road closure, etc.), the system itself must handle the situation and achieve a safe outcome. It cannot depend on a human taking over.
Operational Design Domain (ODD): The specific conditions under which the system is designed to operate (certain roads, cities, weather conditions, speeds, etc.).
Consumer Vehicles Still Level 2
This new ruling for Tesla only covers its Robotaxi vehicles. Regular consumer cars, although they use a similar FSD version, are still considered Level 2 by law, and drivers will be fully held responsible.
Vehicles in Austin have advantages over consumer vehicles, even when they run the same FSD software. In addition to being geofenced, these areas have also received additional FSD training, which has improved FSD performance.
Tesla also offers remote assistance to help these vehicles when they encounter situations where their confidence threshold is low.
Ultimately, this is another milestone for Tesla and its Robotaxi network, but it won’t affect consumer vehicles, at least not yet.
I’ll bet that Level 4 is “safe and effective”...
Insurance companies are ready to reduce your insurance premiums when you are using Tesla Full Self Driving.
It cuts accidents by more than half. Probably by more than 3/4.
Level 4.3.3 is reported as being even better.
“ I am not sure about driverless conditions for a commercial vehicle, tho, personally don’t think it is a great idea for a few reasons.”
I think there should be a weight limit.
Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ tried to drive owner into a lake, viral video shows (Feb 16, 2026)
https://electrek.co/2026/02/16/tesla-full-self-driving-tried-to-drive-owner-into-lake-viral-video/
A Tesla owner says his car tried to drive him into a lake while using the automaker’s latest “Full Self-Driving” software. The incident, captured on video and posted to social media, has gone viral with over 1 million views, adding to a growing list of dangerous FSD edge cases that raise serious questions about the system’s readiness.
Daniel Milligan posted the video to X on Saturday, tagging both Tesla and Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of Autopilot AI, writing: “My Tesla tried to drive me into a lake today!” The vehicle was running FSD version 14.2.2.4 (build 2025.45.9.1), one of the latest updates Tesla has pushed to its fleet. The post racked up over 1.2 million views, 9,000 likes, and hundreds of reposts within hours
The lake incident is the latest in a pattern of alarming “Full Self-Driving” failures that Electrek has been tracking for years. In May 2025, a Tesla on FSD suddenly veered off road and flipped a car upside down in a crash the driver said he could not prevent. In December, a Tesla driver in China crashed head-on into another vehicle during a livestream demonstrating FSD features, the system initiated a lane change into oncoming traffic.
Two Tesla influencers attempting Elon Musk’s much-hyped coast-to-coast FSD drive didn’t even make it out of California before crashing into road debris.
This incident is not to be confused with the driver who last week intentionally drove his Cybertruck into a lake in Texas.
And ban you from ever riding again
It wouldn't do it unless you tried to force it. It has a camera below the license plate that looks for ground anomalies. I've had mine slow down and crawl toward large water puddles that cross the road that were just inches deep, and then stop.
In the video, the car had already slowed down to 6mph and began to stop when the driver took it out of self-drive mode. But, had he let it go, it would have stopped on its own.
These cars have logged over one billion miles of road conditions in their database. They know the difference between a water puddle and a lake.
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