Neurosurgeon analyses Waymo’s data on 100M miles of driverless travel, concludes that it’s dramatically, qualitatively safer (at least the way that Waymo does it). Says if this were a clinical trial they’d stop it because giving placebos would be unethical.
In the future, it will be considered shocking that people used to drive their own cars around - unfathomably dangerous.
Doc might have a point if there were any guarantee that they would maintain that level of safety and not, you know, change their driving behavior to become more profitable. Becuase…
Waymo — whose self-driving cabs had been enjoying extraordinary safety metrics — has just taken steps to make its robotaxis more human-like, eroding the safety narrative that’s been central to the autonomous vehicle narrative.
Recent reporting by The Wall Street Journal observed a startling change in Waymos’ road etiquette, a new aggressive streak that would make a BMW driver blush. These include illegal U-turns, aggressive lane switching, rolling through cross walks, and running red lights.
“It’s driving more like a taxi driver — an aggressive, New York taxi driver,” said Sophia Yen, who watched in awe as two Waymos zig-zagged between lanes in a high-speed game of chicken back in September.
