WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) -

U.S. highway safety regulators are reviewing answers Tesla

gave in response to the agency's questions about the

safety of its self driving robotaxi in poor weather, the agency

said on Friday, ahead of plans to deploy the vehicles as soon as

this weekend.

Reuters reported Friday that Tesla has sent invitations to a

small group of people to join in a limited test in Austin, Texas

which is tentatively set to start on Sunday, according to posts

and email screenshots on social media.

In a letter last month, NHTSA asked Tesla to answer detailed

questions by June 19 on its plans to launch a paid robotaxi

service in Austin, Texas, to assess how the electric vehicle

maker's cars with full self-driving technology will perform in

poor weather.

NHTSA has been investigating Tesla full self-driving

collisions in reduced roadway visibility conditions since

October. The probe covers 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped

with full self-driving (FSD) technology after four reported

collisions, including a 2023 fatal crash.

The agency said in May it was seeking additional

information about Tesla's development of robotaxis "to assess

the ability of Tesla's system to react appropriately to reduced

roadway visibility conditions" as well details on robotaxi

deployment plans and the technology being used.

NHTSA said in May it wants to know how many vehicles

will be used as robotaxis and the expected timetable for

availability of robotaxi technology for vehicles controlled by

people other than Tesla.