--- title: "Video Shows Tesla Robotaxi Safety Driver Giving Up, Climbing Into Driver’s Seat" description: "Tesla's Robotaxis have a small problem — they sometimes refuse to drive themselves, requiring their human safety monitors to do it for them." date: "2025-08-26" modified: "2025-08-26" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/video-tesla-robotaxi-safety-monitor-driving" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" - "Tesla" tags: - "Autonomous Cars" - "robotaxi" - "safety driver" - "tesla" --- # Video Shows Tesla Robotaxi Safety Driver Giving Up, Climbing Into Driver’s Seat ![Tesla's Robotaxis have a small problem — they sometimes refuse to drive themselves, requiring their human safety monitors to do it for them.]() *\Image: Bram Van Oost via Unsplash / Futurism\* Launched just two months ago in Austin, Tesla's Robotaxi service has been plagued with errors and safety issues — many of which have been caught on camera by passengers — from the very start. From [freaking out]() at the sight of a child and getting [stuck in infinite loops]() to [reckless wheel-jerking]() and [ominous calls]() advising passengers to exit the vehicle immediately, it would seem that "failure" is not a strong enough word to describe how poorly Tesla's not-so-driverless taxis are doing. Now, it's looking like those so-called "Robotaxis" may be more like traditional cabs than CEO Elon Musk would care to admit. In a new video posted on YouTube by ARK Invest, a Florida-based investment firm that's long been bullish on Tesla, a Robotaxi safety monitor is seen exiting the vehicle — when it was stopped, blessedly – and climbing into the driver's seat, all so that the car can make a left turn, a [recurring glitch]() that we've [seen]() [repeatedly](). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnrgVkoj334&t=347s "It got a little skittish," explained Sam Korkus, ARK's director of research and autonomous technology, said in a voice-over added to footage of the actual stoppage. "We put the flashers on and waited for support." As the video shows, the Robotaxi's manbunned safety monitor then got out of the car and moved to the driver's seat — apparently, as Korkus explained, at the behest of Tesla support. "That was interesting and unexpected," the passenger understated. Hilariously, this isn't even the first time we've heard about one of its safety monitors having to [clamber into the driver's seat]() when the car, like an exhausted dog on a walk, simply refused to go any further. In late June, just after the Robotaxi launch, the "Dirty Tesla" content creator [described on X]() the disastrous end to one of his rides. According to the influencer, he had just been dropped off when the "driverless" cab began to struggle as it attempted to get out of a tight parking lot, appearing to back up into a parked car. After the car left the lot, the Robotaxi continued to struggle, Dirty Tesla claimed, causing the safety monitor to ultimately get out of the passenger's seat, reenter the driver's side, and manually steer it out in the same way we saw with this more recent video. Though the content creator uploaded video from that incident, it only shows the dark — and indeed, very tight — parking lot and the Robotaxi's hazard lights going off, which [indicates manual intervention]() from either passengers or safety monitors. https://www.twitter.com/dirtytesla/status/1937736544242012174?s=46 Despite being an obvious fanboy, Dirty Tesla had some choice words for the Robotaxi rollout following the incident. "I wouldn't even call this unsupervised," he [wrote in a reply]() to his initial post. "It's clearly supervised." Though Robotaxis are still operating under a veneer of driverlessness in Austin, regulators in California have not yet granted Tesla the proper permits to operate "autonomously" in the Golden State. That means that Robotaxis in the Bay Area, which launched about three weeks ago, have [human drivers behind the wheel](), making the "robo" a bit of a nonstarter. **More on Tesla:** [*Tesla Investors Are Suing Elon Musk Over His Disastrous Robotaxi Debut*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()