The latest reports prove that driverless rides are not safe. At least, at this stage, none of the major carmakers is able to provide a safe autopilot feature. However, everything is changing in front of our eyes. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted Waymo a Driverless Pilot permit. In simple words, the firm’s test cars can pick up passengers without a driver behind the wheel. This is the second firm getting approval. The first was Cruise.
A Step Closer To Driverless Rides
The Waymo test vehicles can go as fast as 65 miles per hour, operating 24/7. Waymo cars can’t get any payment for rides. As Engadget said, the firm would begin offering free test driverless rides to select members of the public in the coming weeks. By the way, Phoenix was the first city allowing it to offer free driverless rides to the public. Waymo got a permit in 2020.
SF, who’s ready to ride? 🚘🤖
Gizchina News of the week
After receiving the driverless pilot permit from the @californiapuc, Waymo One is opening to members of the public in San Francisco. Available 24/7—without anyone in the driver’s seat: https://t.co/TenpLez0lo pic.twitter.com/DtSXXGNJpa
— Waymo (@Waymo) November 18, 2022
To offer free rides, Waymo has to secure a Driverless Deployment permit. As a reference, the CPUC gave Cruise a deployment permit for robotaxis in June. It took a year to get the latter after getting a permit for free rides to the public.
There are some limitations. For instance, both Waymo and Cruise can’t do tests during times of heavy fog and rain. Both companies have somehow overcome autonomous vehicles’ performance issues in bad weather. But it seems there are no achievements in algorithms. So we guess they will still offer free rides only in sunny cities.
On the other hand, Waymo uses the latest car sensor arrays to create real-time weather maps of Phoenix and San Francisco. The company will use this data to make its Driver AI operate smarter.
We see that autonomous vehicles will be real one day. But at this phase, they still can’t be considered a rightful traffic participant.
