this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2024
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Last year, two Waymo robotaxis in Phoenix "made contact" with the same pickup truck that was in the midst of being towed, which prompted the Alphabet subsidiary to issue a recall on its vehicles' software. A "recall" in this case meant rolling out a software update after investigating the issue and determining its root cause.

In a blog post, Waymo has revealed that on December 11, 2023, one of its robotaxis collided with a backwards-facing pickup truck being towed ahead of it. The company says the truck was being towed improperly and was angled across a center turn lane and a traffic lane. Apparently, the tow truck didn't pull over after the incident, and another Waymo vehicle came into contact with the pickup truck a few minutes later. Waymo didn't elaborate on what it meant by saying that its robotaxis "made contact" with the pickup truck, but it did say that the incidents resulted in no injuries and only minor vehicle damage. The self-driving vehicles involved in the collisions weren't carrying any passenger.

After an investigation, Waymo found that its software had incorrectly predicted the future movements of the pickup truck due to "persistent orientation mismatch" between the towed vehicle and the one towing it. The company developed and validated a fix for its software to prevent similar incidents in the future and started deploying the update to its fleet on December 20.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is our future isn't it? This is it. Spending our days wondering if we're going to be mown down by a clumsy Johnnycab because it was fractionally cheaper than paying somebody to drive.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I'd take my chances with that rather than all the crazies out in the road now

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Fr, I'd still trust a self driving vehicle over a human driver any day of the week.

Humans are terrible drivers, this could have easily been just another person driving distracted or something and then we wouldn't even know about it because it wouldn't be news worthy.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

At least they are consistent

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Developers are not testing all of the edge cases properly.

Don't assume a vehicle was under its own power, as like in this case, as it could be towed, so the towing vehicles parameter should be considered.

Check those tires! Make sure they are all on the ground.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

It was in an orientation our devs didn't account for and we don't want liability.

"Towed improperly"

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago (2 children)

"made contact" "towed improperly". What a pathetic excuse. Wasn't the entire point of self driving cars the ability to deal with unpredictable situations? The ones that happen all the time every day?

Considering the driving habits differ from town to town, the current approaches do not seem to be viable for the long term anyway.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

It's a rare edge case that slipped through because the circumstances to cause it are obscure, from the description it was a minor bump and the software was updated to try and ensure it doesn't happen again - and it probably won't.

Testing for things like this is difficult but looking at the numbers from these projects testing is going incredibly well and we're likely to see moves towards legal acceptance soon

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

It's as if they are still in testing. This is many years away from being safe, but it will happen

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Waymo is going full kamikaze drone on Pick-up, next step will be SUV ?

Maybe this is a solution for oversized vehicules

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I still don't understand how these are allowed. One is not allowed to let a Tesla drive without being 100% in control and ready to take the wheel at all times, but these cars are allowed to drive around autonomously?

If I am driving my car, and I hit a pedestrian, they have legal recourse against me. What happens when it was an AI or a company or a car?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You have legal recourse against the owner of the car, presumably the company that is profiting from the taxi service.

You see these all the time in San Francisco. I'd imagine the vast majority of the time, there are no issues. It's just going to be big headlines whenever some accident does happen.

Nobody seems to care about the nearly 50,000 people dying every year from human-caused car accidents

[–] [email protected] -3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Nobody seems to care about the nearly 50,000 people dying every year from human-caused car accidents

I would actually wager that's not true, it's just that the people we elect tend to favor the corporations and look after their interests moreso than the people who elected them, so we end up being powerless to do anything about it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

sure, but why do these accidents caused by AI drivers get on the news consistently and yet we rarely see news about human-caused accidents? it's because news reports what is most interesting - not exactly accurate or representative of the real problems of the country

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Yeah same reason why a single EV fire is national news but an ICE fire is just an unnoteworthy, everyday occurrence.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

The company is at fault. I don't think there's laws currently in place that say a vehicle has to be manned on the street, just that it uses the correct signals and responds correctly to traffic, but I may be wrong. It may also be local laws.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

And they wonder why we set them on fire...

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago (2 children)

In a blog post, Waymo has revealed that on December 11, 2023, one of its robotaxis collided with a backwards-facing pickup truck being towed ahead of it. The company says the truck was being towed improperly and was angled across a center turn lane and a traffic lane.

See? Waymo robotaxis don't just take you where you need to go, they also dispense swift road justice.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

they also dispense swift road justice.

They should launch shurikens out the front like a James Bond vehicle.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

I'm cool with that. Maybe they can do tailgaters next.

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