Thanks Mark, I really appreciate this piece! I don't follow this topic super closely, but have been extremely baffled by the opposition to Waymo by people who are quite reasonable on other topics such as THR. One person I know completely reversed their previously favorable opinion on driverless cars (I suspect because of their feelings towards Elon Musk and Tesla) without even acknowledging the change of opinion!
I admit to having a fear of driverless cars, one based on a pedestrain fatality from several years ago. But a quick Google search revealed a peer reviewed article concluding that Waymo accidents have a significantly lower accident rate per million miles driven than humans. See abstract attached.
Couldn’t load the abstract. But I agree that job losses should not be a reason for stifling new technologies. The more important question for me is safety, and it appears that really isn’t an issue. So I’ll just have to get over my fears at some point.
It's my understanding DC paused the safety study due to federal budget cuts and that they resumed. In any event, a few days ago D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen introduced the Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026 which, if passed, could establish a system of driverless taxis in DC by the end of 2026.
Thanks for that update--I saw that but didn't include it in the story. It would be great if DC allowed Waymo. I'll be interested to see if Janeese Lewis George is willing to ignore the entreaties of the transit workers union.
And this from today's SemaforFlagship newsletter: "China suspended new robotaxi licenses after a major system failure in Wuhan last month. Around 100 Baidu Apollo Go vehicles suddenly stopped on city streets, and some passengers were stranded in fast-moving traffic. Authorities have called for a review and prevented firms from adding new autonomous vehicles to their fleets. It’s a setback for a fast-growing industry — shares in Baidu, China’s largest robotaxi provider, fell 3.9%, while rival firms saw smaller declines — and follows a similar, albeit less dramatic, outage for San Francisco’s Waymos in December. But self-driving cars continue to expand into new markets. Six new US cities and London will see services begin this year, and robotaxis are already common in the Gulf."
Thanks Mark, I really appreciate this piece! I don't follow this topic super closely, but have been extremely baffled by the opposition to Waymo by people who are quite reasonable on other topics such as THR. One person I know completely reversed their previously favorable opinion on driverless cars (I suspect because of their feelings towards Elon Musk and Tesla) without even acknowledging the change of opinion!
I admit to having a fear of driverless cars, one based on a pedestrain fatality from several years ago. But a quick Google search revealed a peer reviewed article concluding that Waymo accidents have a significantly lower accident rate per million miles driven than humans. See abstract attached.
Couldn’t load the abstract. But I agree that job losses should not be a reason for stifling new technologies. The more important question for me is safety, and it appears that really isn’t an issue. So I’ll just have to get over my fears at some point.
It's my understanding DC paused the safety study due to federal budget cuts and that they resumed. In any event, a few days ago D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen introduced the Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026 which, if passed, could establish a system of driverless taxis in DC by the end of 2026.
Thanks for that update--I saw that but didn't include it in the story. It would be great if DC allowed Waymo. I'll be interested to see if Janeese Lewis George is willing to ignore the entreaties of the transit workers union.
The union opposed testing Waymo, even with a driver in the car. https://www.twu.org/waymo-testing-in-nyc-is-a-danger-to-the-traveling-public-and-transit-workers/#:~:text=The%20Transport%20Workers%20Union%20strongly%20opposes%20the,streets%20%E2%80%93%20the%20first%20step%20of%20a
And this from today's SemaforFlagship newsletter: "China suspended new robotaxi licenses after a major system failure in Wuhan last month. Around 100 Baidu Apollo Go vehicles suddenly stopped on city streets, and some passengers were stranded in fast-moving traffic. Authorities have called for a review and prevented firms from adding new autonomous vehicles to their fleets. It’s a setback for a fast-growing industry — shares in Baidu, China’s largest robotaxi provider, fell 3.9%, while rival firms saw smaller declines — and follows a similar, albeit less dramatic, outage for San Francisco’s Waymos in December. But self-driving cars continue to expand into new markets. Six new US cities and London will see services begin this year, and robotaxis are already common in the Gulf."