Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.
The Independent reports on how a Tesla using FSD was tested for 100 days and experienced more than 500 safety-critical events that requred driver intervention or revealed an important limitation.
TechCrunch reports that the marriage between Waymo and Uber was really just one of temporary convenience.
Business Insider reports that the DOT will likely grant robotaxi companies the ability to use an unlimited number of vehicles that cannot be driven by a human. But there is a big problem. When the robotaxi goes haywire and blocks traffic then an emergency responder will not be able to drive the vehicle so that it is out of the way.
New York Times reports on how Waymo robotaxis won't be on the streets of some major cities, including New York, within the foreseeable future. Turns out there are lots of issues.
Reuters reports that Tesla has once again exaggerated its safety claims creating “an urgent safety problem.” So why is FSD still allowed to be used on our public streets?
SF Chronicle reports that Waymos aren't content to have seriously injured a bicyclist in San Francisco due to not following the traffic laws. Now they appear to park in bike lanes in a regular basis.
SF Standard reports on yet more problems that Waymos are causing in San Francisco. Now they are clogging up residential parking garages as well.
StreetsBlog USA covers a report that confirms that Waymos spend half their time empty, as in "zero occupancy vehicles", as in the absolute worst from a congestion and energy point of view.
CNN investigated the safety of Waymo robotaxis and found that while in some ways they drive more safely than humans, in other ways they introduce whole new safety problems.
SF Chronicle reports that there is a new use case for robotaxis: burglary! No driver to identify the perpetrator. Truly brilliant!
NY Times writes an unfortunate article that perpetuates the Waymo marketing "crip-washing" that robotaxis are important for people who are visually impaired.
NY Times reports on how Waymo robotaxis do really dumb things when encountering flooded streets. They drive in and any passengers are then stuck!
SF Standard reports that once again Waymo offers service and then has to rescind it because it wasn't at all safe. This time it turns out that Waymos have been suspended from all freeways and from any flooded roadways. Sure would have been nice if they knew of these problems before inflicting them onto the public.
SF Chronicle reports on some serious problems with Waymo customer service.
TechCrunch reports that Tesla robotaxis go crashy crashy. And this happened while a teleoperator was remotely driving the vehicles!
