Federal crash data cited in recent reporting includes animal collisions involving both Waymo and Tesla robotaxis. Elon Musk addressed the issue in an Oct. 2 late-night repost of a Robotaxi operating-hours announcement, describing Tesla’s work to detect animals at night as both companies face scrutiny over their records.
Musk Takes Aim At Waymo's Track Record
Musk called Waymo vehicles “pet destroyers,” according to Business Insider, and claimed they run over many pets. He also discussed Tesla’s efforts to avoid stray animals, particularly at night.
Musk described avoiding animals that are difficult to see at night as a key technical challenge for Tesla, citing gray kittens against gray pavement as an example. Tesla plans an update aimed at the issue, but Musk gave no timeline, according to Electrek.
Federal Data Shows Both Companies Have Hit Animals
Federal data cited by Business Insider and Fox Business shows Waymo reported at least nine crashes involving animals between July 2025 and July 2026; the company described six as involving domestic animals. In the same period, Tesla’s robotaxi service reported one animal collision, involving a supervised vehicle, Fox Business noted.
Tesla's Austin robotaxi service is small, according to Electrek. A Waymo spokesperson did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Musk's remarks.
The KitKat Case That Started It All
One widely reported case involved KitKat, a San Francisco cat killed by a Waymo vehicle in October 2025. The Los Angeles Times reported that the cat moved beneath the vehicle as it began to pull away. Weeks later, a Waymo carrying passengers struck a small, unleashed dog in the city's Western Addition neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Times; the dog's condition afterward was not confirmed.
What Other Robotaxi Incidents Show
A separate San Francisco case involved a pedestrian, not an animal collision. CBS San Francisco reported that on Oct. 2, 2023, a Cruise autonomous vehicle dragged a woman after she had been hit by a human-driven vehicle. That incident is distinct from the reported Waymo and Tesla animal collisions. On Tesla’s Austin operations, CNBC reported in January 2026 that AI vice president Ashok Elluswamy described a few unsupervised vehicles operating alongside vehicles with safety monitors. That account describes the fleet mix but does not establish the status of any related NHTSA review.
Why Nighttime Detection Remains A Challenge
Part of the dispute centers on hardware. Waymo's sixth-generation system relies on 13 cameras, four lidar sensors and six radar sensors, while Tesla has not shipped a robotaxi equipped with lidar, according to Electrek. That sensor gap is central to why gray animals on gray pavement at night have emerged as a specific technical sticking point for Tesla's camera-reliant approach.
Crash Numbers Climb As Robotaxi Fleets Expand
Animal strikes are a small slice of a much bigger safety data set that regulators now require companies to disclose. Under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Standing General Order, autonomous vehicle operators must report qualifying crashes to the agency. Waymo's vehicles were involved in 797 crashes across all cities between March and September 2026, according to a Verge analysis of that federal reporting.
In Los Angeles County, Waymo reported 219 crashes in 2025, up from 69 the year before, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. For the 2026 crashes it analyzed, the outlet found that just more than 80% resulted in no apparent injuries.
Waymo Points To Safety Gains Even As Crash Totals Rise
Waymo has pushed back on the narrative that more crashes mean a less safe product, framing the increase as a byproduct of a rapidly expanding fleet.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Waymo had 91% fewer crashes causing serious injuries or worse than human drivers. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study cited by the Verge similarly found Waymo's driverless vehicles were involved in 68% fewer crashes per vehicle mile traveled than human-driven cars. None of that data, however, specifically addresses whether Tesla's forthcoming update will resolve the nighttime pet-detection problem Musk himself described.
