NY Times – Self-Driving Cars Are Getting Better. The Risks Are Getting Bigger.
The NY Times reports that as autonomous vehicles become more advanced the risks become even greater.
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Safety
All the robotaxi companies claim that their safety is much better than obsolete human drivers. But are they really safer given that they seem to crash so often? This clearly needs to be investigated further.
Read MoreNY Times – Self-Driving Cars Are Getting Better. The Risks Are Getting Bigger.
SF Chronicle – 2 juveniles arrested after San Francisco police find loaded gun in robotaxi
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.
NY Times – Tesla’s Cybercab Is Being Investigated by Federal Regulators
NY Times reports that the NHTSA still has not yet examined the Tesla robotaxi to see if it meets federal regulations.
SF Gazetteer – Waymo has been slapped with more than 8,300 parking tickets since January 2025
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.
SF Chronicle – A toddler fell in an S.F. crosswalk. Then her dad saw a Waymo coming
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 – Denver drivers question Waymo behavior after chain-reaction crash
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 – Waymo Is Growing Faster Than Ever. So Are Its Glitches.
NY Times reports that those "edge cases" just keep on coming and Waymo is not able to handle them.
NY Times – An Expert in Traffic Jams Has a Scary Idea: What if the Cars Turn on Us?
NY Times reports on a new novel by "gridlock Sam" on how autonomous vehicles could go really, really wrong.
MSN – SUV hits and kills pedestrian in Dallas, impact throws victim into a Waymo, according to officials
MSN reports that Waymo for the third time was an involved party to a traffic fatality.
The Frisc – Waymo Behavior Now Harder to Decipher, Even After July 4th Fiasco
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 -Zoox can now charge for rides in its steering-wheel-free robotaxis
The Verge reports that now Zoox can get passengers into dangerous situations, just like the other robotaxi companies.
SF Standard – Lurie welcomes federal regulation of Waymo and robotaxi industry
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 – Waymo goes up in flames after rear-end crash
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.
Los Angeles Times – Multiple people injured in collision involving Waymo near downtown Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times reports on yet another Waymo crash, this one involving multiple injuries. Waymo will try to hide behind their vehicle not being at legal fault. But the issue isn't a legal one. It is about how to avoid such crashes in the first place. The best way to avoid crashes is to have fewer cars, something Waymo does the opposite of.
SF Chronicle – Waymo pauses San Francisco service as massive PG&E outage hits traffic lights
SF Chronicle reports that Waymo cars still are not able to handle traffic signal outages and had to temporarily discontinue service in areas of San Francisco.
