Waymo gets huge California expansion approval
Waymo has secured a massive regulatory win that could completely change California’s transport landscape. The Google-owned robotaxi company has announced that it’s now officially authorized to drive fully autonomously across large parts of the Golden State, marking the biggest expansion in autonomous vehicle deployment to date, says The Tech Buzz. The approval represents a quantum leap from […]
US police department attempt to issue ticket to Waymo robotaxi
If a driverless car makes an illegal U-turn, does the car still get a ticket? A police department in California grappled with this existential question last week, says The Guardian. During a DUI enforcement operation, officers in San Bruno pulled over a car without anyone behind the wheel after the autonomous vehicle made an illegal U-turn at […]
Police unsure who to charge after pulling over self-driving Waymo for illegal turn
The question of what happens when an autonomous vehicle commits a driving offence has long-been in the thoughts of industry professionals. Last week police in the US were forced to find an answer as a video uploaded to TikTok appears to show a Waymo vehicle in California being pulled over after making a wrong turn in […]
Oxa and Beep announce Contra Costa deployment
Oxa has announced the third commercial deployment of its Oxa Driver service in the US, a little over a year since the autonomous vehicle (AV) software developer changed its name from Oxbotica and enlisted Google Cloud to accelerate the global take-up of its platform, The deployment is being carried out in collaboration with autonomous shared mobility firm Beep, […]
San Francisco: Cruise to halve its driverless fleet after recent crashes
Cruise has agreed to reduce its driverless taxi operation in San Francisco by 50% after two separate crashes involving its vehicles. The California Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement that it is investigating “recent concerning incidents involving Cruise vehicles” and that the company agreed to its request to reduce the number of operating […]
Robotaxi regulators: No contact from Tesla after Musk teases plans
Two California agencies that regulate robotaxis said they haven’t heard from Tesla about its plans for the cars, even though Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced last week that he’ll reveal a new robotaxi product in August, says NBC News. The California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, said in separate […]
California Public Utilities Commission approves Waymo expansion plan
Waymo can expand its robotaxi service to the Peninsula and Los Angeles, state regulators said Friday. NBC Bay Area is reporting. The company’s driverless ride-hailing operations launched last year in San Francisco. “We’re grateful to the CPUC for this vote of confidence in our operations, which paves the way for the deployment of our commercial Waymo One […]
Waymo plans Los Angeles expansion
Google’s driverless vehicle sister company Waymo has asked Californian authorities for permission to expand its driverless service to Los Angeles. US News reports that Waymo, which is operating in San Francisco, would be able to offer driverless rides by invitatation if the permisssion were granted. In a post on X, Waymo stated: We’ve applied to […]
Cruise “offers $75,000” to resolve crash investigation in San Francisco
General Motors’ driverless subsidiary Cruise has offered to pay $75,000 (£59,000) to settle a dispute with the state over whether it misled regulators about the aftermath of crash involving one of its driverless cars. The San Francisco Standard reports that a document filed last Friday (5 January) seeking to defer an order on issues raised […]
Cruise pauses all driverless operations
General Motors’ driverless vehicle division Cruise is stopping all of its driverless services for the moment, after it had its licence to operate suspended in San Francisco. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles suspended the company’s driverless permits following a collision with a pedestrian in San Francisco earlier this month, after the person had been hit […]