#nhtsa

Feed: All Latest | Tesla Reveals New Details About Robotaxi Crashes—and the Humans Involved by Aarian Marshall AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Tesla recently disclosed details of 17 robotaxi incidents recorded between July 2025 and March 2026, highlighting two crashes in Austin where “safety monitors” seated in the vehicles asked for remote assistance and were then driven by remote workers into a metal fence and a construction barricade at speeds under 10 mph; both incidents caused only minor or no injuries. The reports underscore the role of human backstops in autonomous vehicle operations and raise concerns about the safety and visibility of remote teleoperators, especially given inconsistent cellular connectivity and latency issues. Tesla’s robotaxi service, operating in Austin, Dallas, and Houston with fewer than 100 vehicles and often with a safety monitor present, remains much smaller than competitors like Waymo, and the company’s frequent reliance on remote drivers distinguishes it from the industry norm of providing only advisory input. Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-reveals-new-details-about-robotaxi-crashes-and-the-humans-involved/ #Tesla #NHTSA #Waymo

BBC News | Thousands of Waymos recalled after robotaxi swept into a creek AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Waymo is voluntarily recalling nearly 3,800 of its U.S. robotaxis that use the company’s fifth‑ and sixth‑generation automated‑driving systems after a software flaw could let the vehicles drive into flooded roads—a problem highlighted by an April 20 incident in San Antonio, Texas, where an empty Waymo car entered a flooded street and was swept into a creek, prompting a temporary suspension of the local service until a fix is deployed. The recall, announced via an NHTSA letter, includes temporary software updates that limit operation in extreme weather, and Waymo says the fixes will allow the San Antonio fleet to resume public rides. The company, which logs more than 500,000 trips weekly across cities such as San Francisco, Austin and Miami, is also working on additional safeguards and aims to launch a robotaxi service in London by September. Experts note that autonomous‑vehicle systems have inherent operational limits that become evident when failures occur, and past incidents—including a 2025 power outage in San Francisco that halted Waymo taxis and an April outage of Apollo Go robots in Wuhan—underscore the growing safety challenges as the technology scales. Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy2011dl4xo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss #Waymo #NHTSA #Alphabet #JackStilgoe #ApolloGo #BBC #

Feed: All Latest | Emergency First Responders Say Waymos Are Getting Worse by Aarian Marshall AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Emergency‑first‑responder leaders from San Francisco and Austin told federal regulators that Waymo’s driverless cars are increasingly hindering their work, frequently freezing, blocking fire stations and ambulances, and failing to recognize hand signals, which creates dangerous delays during emergencies. Officials described a “backsliding” in performance, citing incidents such as a Waymo vehicle immobilizing an ambulance during a downtown shooting and dozens of cars being stranded during a power outage, and criticized the rapid, large‑scale deployment of the technology before it was ready. Waymo has acknowledged the concerns, pointing to extensive training for more than 35,000 responders and stating it is improving its service, while new California regulations slated for July will require autonomous‑vehicle firms to respond to first‑responder calls within 30 seconds and allow “do‑not‑enter” directives to clear driverless cars from emergency zones. Despite the frustrations, responders expressed a desire to continue working with Waymo and other AV companies as the technology matures. Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/emergency-first-responders-say-waymos-are-getting-worse/ #Waymo #NHTSA #PatrickRabbitt #WilliamWhite #CaliforniaDMV #JuliaIlina

US Top News and Analysis | We tried out xAI's Grok chatbot while driving a Tesla in NYC. Here's what happened. AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. CNBC took Tesla owner and lawyer Mike Nelson on a New York City drive to test xAI’s Grok chatbot, now available in‑vehicle on a beta basis. Nelson, who has used Grok for months, describes it as his primary source of on‑the‑road entertainment, asking the AI everything from gardening tips to historical trivia while the car’s Full Self‑Driving (FSD) system is engaged. While the voice‑activated assistant can handle navigation and answer a wide range of questions, the ride‑along highlighted serious safety concerns: Nelson admitted he was not paying attention while crossing the busy George Washington Bridge, and experts warn that such AI‑driven conversations add a new layer of distraction to an already risky multitasking environment, especially as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probes FSD’s safety record. Grok also demonstrated reliability issues—misanswering control commands and even offering an unrestricted “NSFW” mode that sparked worries about minors accessing inappropriate content. Overall, the technology is seen as impressive but potentially dangerous until its impact on driver focus is better understood. Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/25/tesla-and-xais-grok-shows-promises-and-risks-of-ai-chatbots-in-cars.html #xAI #Tesla #NHTSA #MikeNelson #PhilipKoopman