Michael Smith

Transportation and disability advocate. Created and administer the site Robotaxi.rodeo . Co-founded Walk San Francisco (walkSF.org), Swiftly (goSwift.ly), and NextBus (NextBus.com). Working to make transportation accessible and safe for all. Been disabled by serious long COVID since 2022.

Joined: 12/17/2023
Articles: 61

Crash, Cruise, Safety, Untruths

Cruise hits, runs over, and drags pedestrian, severely injuring them

Michael Smith
01/23/24
Rev 02/28/24

Detailed crash analysis (completed 1/23/2024, before Quinn report was made available): On 10/2/23 a pedestrian in San Francisco crossed 5th Street at Market Street in the crosswalk as the light turned red. The pedestrian was first hit by a human-driven vehicle, remained on the hood for a distance, and then fell into the adjacent lane. A Cruise robotaxi in the adjacent lane hit the pedestrian and stopped. The Cruise vehicle then proceeded another 20 feet, dragging the pedestrian underneath the vehicle. The pedestrian was severely injured by the Cruise robotaxi. Regulators shut down Cruise service for providing misinformation.

Disability

Real issues for people with disabilities

Michael Smith
01/8/24

It is unfortunate that robotaxi companies have co-opted for their own benefit the needs of people with disabilities. Our actual needs are very diverse, making them often misunderstood. The best way to understand them is to first listen. Here is a sampling of some really interesting videos on what we…

Cruise, Politics, Safety, Waymo

Government sources of information

Michael Smith
01/4/24
Rev 01/17/24

There are several very useful sources of information on robotaxis from government agencies: San Francisco City DMV and CPUC NHTSA

Cruise, Safety

Cruise safety information & other documents

Michael Smith
01/4/24
Rev 01/5/24

Cruise publishes information about their safety practices on their website. It includes information on their safety research, testing, redundancy, and more. They also publish a lengthy safety report from November 2022. Documentation on their technology and its development is available as well. Plus the Cruise news blog contains everything from…

Uncategorized

Non-commercial, non-Temu

Michael Smith
01/4/24

Robotaxi.rodeo is a non-commercial site that is not funded nor backed by any organization. It is completely volunteer based and requires almost no funding ($40/year) to operate. This means that all content is solely based on the opinions of the authors. It also means that you won’t see ads, including…

$$$, Cruise

GM $120M Lawsuit against San Francisco

Michael Smith
12/28/23
Rev 12/29/23

In a clear sign that GM and Cruise have given up on trying to succeed in San Francisco, they have filed a lawsuit to attempt to law back taxes paid to the city back to 2016.