Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
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.
Torque News (yes, that is a real publication) reports that FSD on a Cybertruck is so bad that Progressive Insurance has raised insurance premiums for those who use it frequently. This is an independent refutation of Tesla's claim that FSD is better than a human driver.
SF Chronicle reports on how Waymo expects to handle the inevitable heavily inebriated passengers.
Washington Post provides perhaps the most important article on robotaxis in 2024. The reporter demonstrates how Waymo vehicles are not programmed to follow the law and cede right-of-way. Instead, they intentionally mimic human drivers, including bullying pedestrians and not allowing them to cross in crosswalks.
Teslarati reports on how a Tesla analyst doesn't believe in the hype of the Tesla robotaxi fleet since most Tesla owners would not want to share their vehicles in the first place.
Washington Post reports how robotaxis not having a human driver leads to a large number of scary situations. Apparently their metric of crashes per mile driven is simply not adequate.
TheVerge reports on how the Federal Government is proposing changing standards for autonomous vehicles, but that they expect a great deal of safety related data in return. At the same time, Tesla is trying to avoid having to provide the government with crash data since they have so many crashes.
NBC Bay Area reports on yet another misleading study by Waymo on how their vehicles improve safety, when they simply do not.
Reuters reports on how the Trump transition team is trying to eliminate the requirement for Tesla to provide data on just how dangerous their "self-driving" system actually is.
Waymo is often touted as the most advanced robotaxi system out there. Yet the vehicles are still befuddled by simply things like navigating a round-a-bout.
Reuters reports that Tesla has come to the realization that FSD won't actually be adequate for robotaxis and that teleoperation will be needed. Tesla also explains that originally the robotaxis would be owned by Tesla, not by individuals as described earlier.
TechCrunch reports that Waymo is starting to outsource operations of their robotaxis to an African fintech company in order to save on costs.
Jalopnik reports on a Tesla going out of control on the top deck of a parking garage, speeding over speed bumps, hitting multiple cars, and then flying off the end of the building. Has not yet been ascertained whether the Tesla was in a assisted driving mode at the time. But it sure looks suspect. The passengers survived.
NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reports that Aurora has delayed their introduction of robotrucks, and when then do move forward they will only put a paltry 10 semis on the road. This is an incredibly weak start.
OregonLive reports on how lawsuits on Tesla's "Self-driving" system are reaching a crescendo. Still, Tesla is usually coming out unscathed due to them successfully blaming the driver for foolishly believing that FSD is actually Self Driving.
Inside EVs reports on a test of "Full" Self Driving (FSD) on a Cybertruck. In short, pedestrians are going to die.
