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.
SF Chronicle reports on the latest robotaxi use: juveniles riding around brandishing a loaded ghost assault rifle. Remarkably, Waymo is not allowed to transport unaccompanied juveniles. They are fully responsible for this incident.
Streetsblog USA reports that Waymo has not complied with disability laws. They have not provided accessible options in Nevada even though clearly required by the law.
MarketWatch reports that Tesla investors are quite appalled by the lackluster Cybercab "rollout". People are finally realizing that the whole Cybercab thing is just more Elon smoke and mirrors.
NY Times reports that the NHTSA still has not yet examined the Tesla robotaxi to see if it meets federal regulations.
SF Gazetteer reports that Waymo receives a phenomenal number of parking tickets in San Francisco. Clearly this means that the vehicles have been programmed to not follow traffic laws.
Bay Area Current reports on how autonomous vehicles really aren't that autonomous at all. All sorts of work is done by marginally employed humans who have to deal with the nastiest proclivities of Waymo riders.
SF Chronicle reports on a what a parent saw as a near miss when their child tripped in a crosswalk. The main question is why are Waymos behaving aggressively, even on Slow Streets, even when small children are present. If the vehicle detected that a small child was crossing the street shouldn't it have then behaved more cautiously?
CBS News reports that yet another Waymo was part of crash due to it stopping in the middle of a street (though other driver considered legally at fault). And like many other Waymo incidences, the Waymo vehicle was empty at the time, driving around being a hazard without actually providing passenger service at the time.
NY Times reports that those "edge cases" just keep on coming and Waymo is not able to handle them.
NY Times reports on a new novel by "gridlock Sam" on how autonomous vehicles could go really, really wrong.
MSN reports that Waymo for the third time was an involved party to a traffic fatality.
The Frisc does important reporting on how information on Waymos has become less available as their problems have increased greatly. Politicians pretend to be trying to address the issue but really are just passing the buck.
The Verge reports that now Zoox can get passengers into dangerous situations, just like the other robotaxi companies.
SF Standard reports that SF Mayor Lurie is finally realizing that robotaxis need better regulation. Unfortunately instead of doing something about the problem locally (restrict robotaxis from large events) he passes the buck to legislation that will not pass, making it look like he is doing something when actually he is not.
WSB-TV2 and FOX5 report on how a Waymo burned to the ground after being in a collision. Fortunately there were no passengers because there is a good chance they would not have been able to exit the vehicle in time.
