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. The investigation follows several incidents of Waymo cars illegally passing school buses in Atlanta and Austin, says Sherwood News.
In an emailed statement, the company said it updated the software “as soon as the issue was identified” on 17 November with the autonomous vehicle giant also noting its “strong safety record.”
However, data recently released by Waymo in its Safety Impact Report – which covers “nearly 100 million driverless miles” across four American cities – found that Waymo vehicles were involved in 91% fewer crashes causing serious injury or worse, and 80% fewer crashes causing any injury, than human drivers.
With Waymo, Tesla and others making expeditious progress in the race for self-driving supremacy, arguably the biggest obstacle for autonomous vehicles remains psychological, rather than technological, as every heart-tugging, headline-grabbing infraction weighs heavily on the minds of risk-averse would-be riders.
(Picture: Waymo)
