For years, self-driving vehicle makers have been vying for the ability to launch full-fledged robotic taxis – an opportunity to save a hefty amount of money on the driver’s salary, while self-driving taxis do not need sleep, respite, vacation or just a weekend. However, as it turned out, the benefits of such vehicles are very controversial – so much so that the authorities of San Francisco want Waymo and Cruise (leaders of robot taxis in the United States) to slow down the expansion of their fleet in the city due to the fact that autonomous cars create mass problems.
For example, journalists from the NBC News news publication report that robot taxis create a lot of difficulties in the field of safety – drones, for inexplicable reasons, can simply stop in the middle of the roadway at any time, creating an emergency situation for human drivers. Moreover, robot taxis have repeatedly interfered with the work of emergency services, tritely blocking traffic in their lane. It is likely that if the authorities decided to formally address the companies, saying that expanding their fleet is currently unwise, there were plenty of unpleasant incidents. Yes, and the government believes that robot taxis overload the flow too much, creating traffic jams where they could be avoided.
Cruise (owned by General Motors) and Waymo (owned by Alphabet, the parent company of Google) are currently the only companies that have received permission to operate such passenger vehicles in San Francisco. And although the fleet of companies is not very large yet, because the technologies are still being tested and finalized, and there is no competition from other brands at all, unmanned vehicles can cause significant damage to the metropolis in just a few months of operation. For example, The Verge journalists recall that in July, Cruise’s drones blocked traffic in the city for several hours – the vehicles simply stopped working and stopped in the middle of the road.
Then no one was hurt, except for the nerves of other drivers, but if these cars had blocked the road to the fire department, ambulance or rescue service in this way, then everything could have been much worse. However, critical situations also arose – in April, Cruise cars blocked the path of a fire truck that was on its way to an emergency call, and a few months ago, a similar car simply ran into the hose of a fire truck, which at that moment was engaged in extinguishing a fire. It is terrible to imagine the world of the future, in which there will be a hundred times more such cars.
Source: Trash Box
I’m Meagan Diaz, a news writer and author at World Stock Market. My main focus is on technology and stock market trends, and I’m passionate about helping readers stay informed on the ever-changing landscape. I bring extensive knowledge of the industry to my work as well as a knack for storytelling that makes my articles both accessible and engaging.
