TechCrunch – Uber partner Avride is under investigation for self-driving crashes
TechCrunch reports that the NHTSA is investigating Avride, a partner of Uber, after identifying 16 crashes. Looks like Uber doesn't have a robotaxi solution after all.
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 MoreTechCrunch – Uber partner Avride is under investigation for self-driving crashes
Wired – Waymo Is Trying to Crack Down on Solo Kids in Driverless Cars
Wired reports that Waymo is finally trying to address the problem of violating the law by providing service to unaccomanied minors. Though they should have dealt with this months ago when they first clearly knew about this problem.
Bloomberg – China Suspends Autonomous Driving Permits After Baidu Outage
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 – Emergency First Responders Say Waymos Are Getting Worse
Wired reports that not all do Waymos interfere with first responders, but it continues to get worse.
SF Standard – Cops can ticket driverless cars now
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 NYC – Waymo Is Not In The ‘Vision Zero’ Toolbox: Data
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 – Tesla Robotaxis rolled out in Dallas. This guy had a wild highway ride.
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.
NYC StreetsBlog – ‘A Solution, But To What Problem?’ Experts Say AVs Are The Elephant In The Room, But There’s Still Time To Figure Out Their Role
NYC StreetsBlog talks with the experts behind the recent The Future of Transportation seminar. Key point is whether we are currently even asking the right questions about robotaxi safety. After all, Oslo and Helsinki both had zero fatalities last year and they managed to do so without a single robotaxi.
SF Chronicle Opinion – San Francisco is obsessed with the safest drivers — and ignoring the ones killing people
SF Chronicle publishes a marketing piece for Waymo as an op-ed. William Riggs, the author, is paid by Waymo and other robotaxi companies to do their bidding. Not stating that William Riggs is funded by robotaxi companies is journalistic malpractice by the newspaper.
A More Perfect Union – I Rode A Driverless Taxi. What I Learned Will Scare You
A More Perfect Union created an excellent short video on the ramifications on workers if robotaxis are widely adopted. The situation is grim.
TechCrunch – A self-driving car in Texas hit and killed a mother duck, sparking neighborhood outrage
TechCrunch reports that an AVRide autonomous vehicle drove over and killed a mother duck - and Austinites are rightfully outraged.
The City – Waymo’s Robot Car Testing Ends in NYC After Permits Expire
The City reports that Waymo's permits to test some of their robotaxis in New York City has ended. And their permission to run vehicles in the state of New York has reached a dead end. NYC is simply not read for robotaxis, given they have far more cars there than is useful. It appears Waymo never expected to hit such a speed bump in their deployment.
NY Times – Robot Taxis Stop in Traffic in Chinese City, Stranding Travelers
NY Times reports on how Baidu had a major outage in Wuhan, stranding passengers in the middle of busy streets and even causing at least one collision. In fact, robotaxis from China have had a very questionable safety record.
Wired – Tesla Admits Its Robotaxis Are Sometimes Driven by Remote Humans
Wired reports that Tesla acknowledges that their "robotaxis" are sometimes actually driven by humans. This is of course not a surprise given the Tesla Optimus robots are known to actually be just teleoperated puppets. Certainly is peculiar that the company is valued at $1.4T based on robotaxis and humanoid robots.
Benzinga – Elon Musk’s Tesla Ride-Hailing Service Isn’t A Robotaxi, California Regulator Says
Benzinga reports that the California Public Utilities Commission has declared that Tesla does not have true autonomous capability and therefore does not have an actual robotaxi system. Whoops. You can always count on Elon to not speak the truth.
