The Verge – Waymo denies using remote drivers after Senate testimony went viral
The Verge reports that Waymo is still trying to hide that remove drivers in the Philippines are actually controlling the vehicles in some situations.
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Politics
Cars, being fast moving and heavy, are quite dangerous. They should be well regulated for safety. But it turns out regulations can be bought and paid for by lobbying money…
Read MoreThe Verge – Waymo denies using remote drivers after Senate testimony went viral
electrek – Tesla avoids 30-day California sales suspension after dropping misleading ‘Autopilot’ marketing
electrek reports that Tesla has dodged a 30-day suspension in California by finally changing their false marketing campaigns. Tesla is completely dropping "AutoPilot" and will only refer to FSD through the amazing contradiction of "Full Self Driving (supervised)"
electrek – Tesla ‘Robotaxi’ adds 5 more crashes in Austin in a month — 4x worse than humans
electrek reports that Tesla Rbootaxis keep on crashing. And finally Tesla admits to one of their robotaxi crashes resulted in hospitalization.
Washington Post Editorial Board – The long view of self-driving cars
Washington Post Editorial Board publishes absolute nonsense on the safety of autonomous vehicles, in the hopes of minimizing safety regulations. The Washington Post used to be an important newspaper, but clearly no longer.
Waymo Hits a Rough Patch in Washington, DC
Wired reports that Washington DC politicians have seen how things have gone elsewhere and want some good answers about safety before allowing Waymo to operate in the city.
KTLA 5 – California union believes Waymos should be off the streets
KTLA reports that the California Teamsters union is pushing to get Waymo robotaxis off the streets due to them recently hitting and injuring a child and also going passed stopped school buses illegally.
TechCrunch – Waymo probed by National Transportation Safety Board over illegal school bus behavior
TechCrunch reports that Waymo is under yet another investigation for violating traffic safety laws and passing by stopped school buses, some with children crossing the street. This investigation is by the National Transportation Safety Board. They do not actually regulate the Waymo robotaxis, but they are experts in conducting safety investigations.
SF Chronicle – Parents are letting teens ride in Waymos without an adult. That poses a dilemma for the company
SF Chronicle reports that parents continue to knowingly break California regulations and allow their kids to ride in Waymos unaccompanied. And Waymo doesn't seem to care in the least that they are regularly violating their state permit. What could possibly go wrong??
SF Chronicle – Waymo scolded by judge after robotaxi company refuses to discuss details from power outage
SF Chronicle reports that Waymo continues to try to hide necessary safety related information about the extensive problems that occurred during the power blackout. They clearly are trying their best to not work with the regulators.
SF Chronicle – Inside Daniel Lurie’s handling of Waymo crisis during S.F. power outages
SF Chronicle reports on the buffonery that occurred between City Hall and Waymo during the recent power outage. Clearly neither the city nor Waymo was prepared for such a serious problem.
And it is definitely past time for Mayor Lurie to acknowledge that illegally allowing Waymos on car-free Market Street was a huge mistake on his part.
SF Chronicle – Waymos are now coming for your coveted San Francisco parking spots
SF Chronicle reports that even more San Franciscans are going to be upset with Waymo now that they are regularly taking up public parking spaces.
The Telegraph – Driverless cars promise a revolution. But can they handle the British weather?
The Telegraph reports that Waymos and other robotaxis will be coming to England. But also notes that some of their "supervisors" are located all the over in the Philippines. Sure hope nothing goes wrong (as it has many times in San Francisco)!
Waymo continues to mislead public on what happened during the San Francisco blackout
Waymo finally acknowledges that its vehicles are not autonomous and that they need human help when encountering complicated situations, such as traffic signals being out during a power outage. Yet they continue to mislead the public. The blackout caused the 5G cellular system that Waymo uses to go down, making human help impossible. The vehicles needing human help is an inherent and unfixable problem for the current Waymo driving system.
NY Times – China Delays Plans for Mass Production of Self-Driving Cars After Accident
NY Times reports on how China is now delaying their plans for widespread adoption of robotaxis. It turns out that they are no where near safe enough for full autonomy.
SF Standard – WTF happened to Waymo during the blackout? Industry experts have some guesses
SF Standard reports on how the Waymo problem in San Francisco was due to both to traffic signals going out and Waymo's reliance on the cellular system to use actual humans when there are unusual problems. There will be hearings on both the culpability of PG&E and of Waymo.
