Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
NBC Bay Area reports that a passenger took a Waymo robotaxi to the San Jose airport but then absconded with his luggage. Waymo then made it quite difficult to get the luggage back, even though it was completely their fault.
Bloomberg reports that China is having major autonomous vehicle problems. There was a big problem where the Baidu robotaxis simply stopped operating, stranding passengers in dangerous situations.
Wired reports that not all do Waymos interfere with first responders, but it continues to get worse.
SF Standard reports that robotaxis, such as Waymos, can now be ticketed in California for their surprisingly numerous traffic violations. Rbbotaxis must also do a better job in not interfering with first responders. Plus, robotaxi companies will finally have to share more information about problems with the DMV.
Streetsblog makes the critical point that when iti comes to safety, Waymo has been trying to get everyone to focus on the wrong issue: safety per passenger mile driven. The real question is whether robotaxis have improved safety in general. And it turns out that with a huge number of Waymos in San Francisco safety has actually become a bit worse. Meanswhile in Helsinki and Oslo, where there are exactly zero robotaxis, they didn't have a single fatality last year. If people our actually interested in safety, as Waymo claims, then they should be promoting incredibly safe public transportation, not robotaxis.
Business Insider reports that a Tesla FSD fanboy tried to take a robotaxi but of course it took a few hours since Tesla only has a handful of them actually running in Dallas, and only for publicity. And then the Tesla took to freeway for a wild ride ooand tried to pull over while cars zoomed by.
