Waymo Robotaxis Pass Emergency Vehicle Review. But One Got Stuck in a Roundabout (techcrunch.com) 36
An anonymous reader shared this report from The Verge:
Waymo's driverless vehicles can detect emergency vehicles, know how to respond to hand signals for traffic cops, and can be disabled manually when something goes wrong, according to an independent review of the company's first responder protocols. As such, the Alphabet company's first responder protocols passed an independent review conducted by Tüv Süd, a German tech inspection company. The firm's assessment found that Waymo's First Responder Program "meets industry standards" for responding to emergency situations, which is in line with the best practices set out in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)...
Waymo is staking out the position that it goes beyond what's required to prove that its vehicles are trustworthy... The company has also publicly released its own guide for first responders who are responding to incidents involving autonomous vehicles. The 32-page document includes a toll free number for getting in touch with remote operators, a visual guide for disabling the vehicle's autonomous mode, and instructions for how to disconnect the high-voltage battery. Waymo also hosts training sessions for police and fire officials in the cities in which it operates. The company says it has trained 15,000 first responders from over 75 agencies.
Gizmodo notes that Waymo's self-driving cars are already live for paying customers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, "with deployment in Miami coming soon." But Waymo's self-driving cars still attract some mockery online, reports TechCrunch: A video is circulating on social media showing a Waymo robotaxi going round and round on a roundabout — as if it is stuck in a loop. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch there were no passengers onboard the vehicle in the video and said the company has already addressed the issue by deploying a software update to its fleet.
Waymo is staking out the position that it goes beyond what's required to prove that its vehicles are trustworthy... The company has also publicly released its own guide for first responders who are responding to incidents involving autonomous vehicles. The 32-page document includes a toll free number for getting in touch with remote operators, a visual guide for disabling the vehicle's autonomous mode, and instructions for how to disconnect the high-voltage battery. Waymo also hosts training sessions for police and fire officials in the cities in which it operates. The company says it has trained 15,000 first responders from over 75 agencies.
Gizmodo notes that Waymo's self-driving cars are already live for paying customers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, "with deployment in Miami coming soon." But Waymo's self-driving cars still attract some mockery online, reports TechCrunch: A video is circulating on social media showing a Waymo robotaxi going round and round on a roundabout — as if it is stuck in a loop. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch there were no passengers onboard the vehicle in the video and said the company has already addressed the issue by deploying a software update to its fleet.
Not just a roundabout (Score:2)
Waymos get stuck all the time, including because of other Waymos [imgur.com].
Re: Not just a roundabout (Score:2)
Oh they can fix that (Score:1)
That is just because they don''t have enough LIDARs.
I read here and elsewhere all the time that having LIDARs solves all problems related to autonomous cars and Tesla will never work because they don't have LIDARs. And those engineers must really know their stuff because they post that all the time.
Just add some more LIDARs and it will be fine.
Re: Oh they can fix that (Score:2)
Aphantasics (Score:5, Interesting)
They ripped out a perfectly good intersection around here and put in a very small double-lane traffic roundabout/circle/rotary which has caused complete chaos.
I know a woman who had to go around three times to figure out how to get out and there was much beeping.
I feel for Waymo in this case - the humans are just as big of a problem as topology.
Where I grew up there were very large single-lane circles which gave you plenty of time to plot a course.
I can handle this tiny monstrosity but I truly believe it would fail a Disparate Impact Test challenge.
The ones were I grew up have all been replaced by intersections because of the high death rates.
These Urban Planners value theoretical efficiency above all else.
We need to stop making society more complex at every turn.
Re: (Score:2)
If people are whipping around the roundabout fast enough to have a significant death rate, they're doing it VERY wrong.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re: Aphantasics (Score:2)
Once every few decades there are fresh car tracks on the center of one of the roundabouts I pass on my way to work. I do not think it is the roundabout's fault. I think alcohol and sleep are more involved.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, very much like that! Does it make me a bad person if I imagined hearing a car horn playing Dixie when the car launched?
Re: (Score:2)
If my simple single sentence confused you that much, I can only guess that you accidentally drank shoe polish instead of your morning coffee.
Re:Aphantasics (Score:4, Interesting)
She should just use it the wrong way, only ever use the right lane. If everyone does it, it becomes a one lane roundabout, but not her problem.
This is why multilane roundabouts should use spiral lane marking. Teaches people how to use it and the people who want to persist in doing it wrong have to illegally cross a lane.
Europe has roundabouts (Score:3)
And they work fine. It does require people to know how to use them properly, of course, but the lived experience of Europeans is proof that they are an effective solution to many problems.
OTOH as a cyclist, I hate roundabouts as they are hard for cyclists to navigate safely....
Re: Europe has roundabouts (Score:2)
Re:Europe has roundabouts (Score:4, Informative)
Re: Europe has roundabouts (Score:2)
There's a lot more to it than that (Score:2)
1) What signals to use to indicate which exit you will be using
2) When to change that signal to exit
3) What lane to enter on and when and how to shift in order to leave
Re: There's a lot more to it than that (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Death rate? Low or high?
How can that happen at a round about?
Re: (Score:2)
then go out for a drive
then go straight through a roundabout at about 60mph
Re:Aphantasics (Score:4, Informative)
I know a woman who had to go around three times to figure out how to get out and there was much beeping.
Most roundabouts in the UK's larger cities are dual lane and small and everything works just fine. Congrats, you know someone who shouldn't be driving a car, we all do, what does this have to do with anything else?
These Urban Planners value theoretical efficiency above all else.
Actually no they don't. Urban planners have a whole lot of variables they need to juggle to come up with best option for any given intersection, and it isn't always efficiency. For example often roundabouts are specifically about *NOT* being efficient, quite the opposite as they are designed to reduce traffic speed in all directions of the junction making them often safer than having a traffic light controlled intersection, especially for mixed traffic situations where cycle paths / pedestrians are on the shoulder of the road.
The ones were I grew up have all been replaced by intersections because of the high death rates.
Citation needed. If you have high death rates at a roundabout, a specific piece of road designed to reduce vehicle speed to the point where it's virtually impossible to cause a fatal accident then maybe there's something fundamentally wrong with either your road rules or the way people in your area are taught to drive. In most of the rest of the world.
Since I wouldn't want to be a hypocrite here's a citation from me:
https://iowadot.gov/traffic/ro... [iowadot.gov]
Typically 90% reduction in fatal crashes
Typically 76% reduction in injuries
Typically 30-40% reduction in vehicle to pedestrian crashes
Or maybe another country? https://www.iihs.org/topics/ro... [iihs.org]
Europe / Australia: Roundabouts reduce injuries by 25-87% depending on what situation they are installed in. And 36-61% reduction in crashes generally.
Or the Netherlands? Where road safety is considered above all else? https://swov.nl/system/files/p... [swov.nl]
76% reduction in fatal accidents, and 46% reduction in injuries where roundabouts were placed.
So ... when you are different to the rest of the world, what is *your area* doing so very wrong that you are showing the opposite trend from literally everyone else?
Re: (Score:2)
They ripped out a perfectly good intersection around here and put in a very small double-lane traffic roundabout/circle/rotary which has caused complete chaos.
I know a woman who had to go around three times to figure out how to get out and there was much beeping.
I feel for Waymo in this case - the humans are just as big of a problem as topology.
Where I grew up there were very large single-lane circles which gave you plenty of time to plot a course.
I can handle this tiny monstrosity but I truly believe it would fail a Disparate Impact Test challenge.
The ones were I grew up have all been replaced by intersections because of the high death rates.
These Urban Planners value theoretical efficiency above all else.
We need to stop making society more complex at every turn.
Basically, what you're saying is that person didn't know how to use a roundabout... and remember, the driverless cars are not even at that level of competence.
Roundabouts are brilliant for managing traffic, they speed things up by reducing the need to stop.. This assumes a basic level of competency which most steering wheel attendants lack.
Not shocked (Score:3)
Americans can’t navigate roundabouts either.
look kids big ben parliament (Score:4, Funny)
look kids big ben parliament
Re: (Score:2)
look kids big ben parliament
I know this is a joke... but there's no roundabouts near the houses of parliament or the Elizabeth tower (big ben is the name of the bell, not the clock, that's called Clocky McClockface) Nearest one is about 300 metres away, well out of sight of the tower.
Toll free number (Score:2)
Confidence interval (Score:2)
Last July, Phoenix police pulled over a driverless Waymo vehicle that was driving in the oncoming lane of traffic. The company blamed “inconsistent” construction signs [and] said these were minor occurrences
Did he ever return? (Score:4, Funny)
A video is circulating on social media showing a Waymo robotaxi going round and round on a roundabout — as if it is stuck in a loop.
Charlie's wife goes down to the Scollay Roundabout
Every day at quarter past five
And through the open window she hands Charlie a sandwich
As the taxi drives on by.
Well did he ever return, no he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned
He may ride forever in a Robo Taxi
He's the man who never returned
(Reference. [youtube.com])
Re: (Score:3)
Hey look kids, there's Big Ben, and there's Parliament
Re: (Score:2)
On, this takes me back. A takeoff on "Charlie and the MTA". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Enjoy!
How many other self-driving cars (Score:2)
can understand hand signals by police officers?
I'm impressed, actually.
so who's going to deal with unemployment (Score:2)
when all these drivers are replaced? just more classism and economic exploitation