Increasing Resistance against New York City's Autonomous Vehicle Trial escalates
Waymo's Autonomous Vehicles Face Recall and Controversy in New York City
Waymo, the Google-owned self-driving car company, is facing a recall notice and controversy as it expands its autonomous vehicle service. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a recall notice for over 1,200 Waymo vehicles, citing incidents of collisions with stationary and semi-stationary objects such as gates and chains.
Despite the recall, Waymo continues to operate its robot taxis in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin. In New York City, the city transportation department granted Waymo permission to test eight autonomous vehicles through September. However, the expansion of Waymo's service in the city beyond the pilot would require legislation in Albany.
The recall notice comes after a collision involving a Waymo vehicle in January in San Francisco, which was reported as the first fatal accident involving a fully autonomous vehicle in the country. Investigators concluded that the self-driving car was not at fault in the accident. The human driver traveling at high speeds was blamed for the crash, which resulted in one death and the death of a dog.
Michael Sutherland, a policy researcher with Open Plans, a street safety advocacy group, is calling for regulators to revoke approval for Waymo's pilot program in New York City. Sutherland also expressed concerns about the safety of self-driving vehicles in incredibly dense cities like New York City. The city's major taxi union leaders are concerned that Waymo's entry into the city could take away their jobs.
Despite these concerns, Waymo reports that its autonomous vehicles are involved in 88% fewer crashes with serious injuries than average human drivers over the same distance. The company has not rolled out at scale in cold-weather cities where roads get icy in the winter.
The spokesperson for Waymo did not respond to a request for comment regarding the recall notice and the San Francisco accident. Open Plans' concerns about the pilot program in New York City and the city's major taxi union leaders' concerns were not mentioned in this paragraph.
As the debate over autonomous vehicles continues, it remains to be seen how Waymo's service will be received in New York City and whether the recall notice will impact its expansion plans.
