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Image Credits:Michael Yanow/NurPhoto / Getty Images5:01 AM PDT · September 4, 2026
The United States’ top automotive safety regulator has opened an investigation into Tesla’s decision to launch its new Cybercab on public roads with no steering wheel or pedals.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced Friday morning that it opened the probe mere hours after Tesla put the first Cybercabs on the streets of Austin, Texas. Federal vehicle safety regulations require manual controls like brake pedals, though the Department of Transportation recently proposed removing those requirements for vehicles that are designed to be autonomously driven.
NHTSA said Friday that Tesla told the agency that it self-certified the Cybercab as being compliant with all of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Automakers traditionally self-certify whether their vehicles comply with FMVSS rules.
In the filing, the agency said it was opening the investigation to “examine the process and technical data on which Tesla relied when certifying the Cybercab and related issues.” NHTSA said it will consider the extent to which the company’s certification depended on determinations that certain federal motor standards are inapplicable to the Cybercab.
This story is developing…
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Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
You can contact or verify outreach from Sean by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at okane.01 on Signal.
