Waymo robotaxis involved in 80% fewer injury-causing crashes than human-driven cars, company says
Waymo, on the back of having to defend its safety protocols after one of its autonomous taxis ran over and killed a cat in November, has said that it’s planning a software recall to prevent its vehicles from failing to fully slow or stop for school buses, in response to the NHTSA launching a probe into the company. […]
Waymo robotaxi drives passenger into police standoff
A Waymo driverless taxi drove a passenger into an apparent police standoff in downtown Los Angeles last week, according to ABC News. The Waymo taxi came across a street blocked by police vehicles, as can be seen in this video, before turning into an area that was not blocked off where other vehicles were also […]
Driverless cars will be on our roads next year, says DfT
The Department for Transport (DfT) has issued an update on when the first fleet of driverless vehicles will likely arrive on UK roads. Driverless cars are already being used for public rides and testing in several cities across the United States, including Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In these cities, commuters can hail these rides through apps like Waymo, […]
Waymo to launch robotaxi service in five more US cities
Waymo has announced that its driverless robotaxis are coming to five new cities: Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and San Antonio. The company currently operates autonomous robotaxis in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. The Robot Report says that Waymo is in the process of removing human safety drivers in Miami from this week and […]
Waymo set to replace “ageing” robotaxis with fleet of Hyundai Ioniq 5s
Waymo has started testing Hyundai Ioniq 5s equipped with its sixth-generation autonomous driving technology in San Francisco. In 2024 the companies announced a “strategic partnership” and declared that deploying self-driving Ioniq 5s would be the first step of the partnership. The cars are built at Hyundai’s new ‘Metaplant’ in Georgia and outfitted with Waymo’s driverless hardware […]
Waymo to offer robotaxi services on San Francisco, LA and Phoenix freeways
Waymo has announced that is to begin offering its driverless taxi servicer on freeways across San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, The move represents a significant first for the Google subsidiary as it continues to scale up expansion amid global and domestic competition in the self-driving industry. A company statement said: “The open road symbolizes […]
London taxi drivers warn that driverless cars could ‘run them off the road’
London’s taxi drivers have called for protection as Waymo prepares to launch its driverless cab service. According to a report by Hyphen, many London cab drivers are warning that autonomous vehicles could “run us off the road” and destroy livelihoods built over decades, says DMNews. But while government ministers hail the move as innovation, local drivers […]
European driverless car sector has “fallen behind” US and China, says Bolt CEO
The European Union is lagging behind in the race to put driverless cars on its roads. Self-driving taxis developed and deployed by companies such as Tesla and Waymo have gone from curiosity to commonplace in several US cities. In June, Waymo overtook ride-hailing app Lyft’s market share in San Francisco (the two companies later announced […]
Report names UK cities most ready for driverless taxis – and London isn’t in the top 30
Following the news that Waymo is set to launch its autonomous taxi service in London next year, making it the first European city to do so, new analysis just published doesn’t even place it in the top 10 cities for driverless readiness, with Hull, Southend-on-Sea and Leicester taking the top three places. London is a […]
Waymo, road safety and liability: Evolving legal standards for CAVs
With the news that Waymo will be bringing its autonomous ride-hailing services to London next year still fresh in minds, the legal liability questions this development will create have started being asked already. Lawyer Andrew Sanderson, a partner at Kingsley Napley LLP, says that with autonomous and connected vehicles expected on British roads by 2026, […]