The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, is looking into Waymo’s driverless cars after some concerning incidents. One incident caught on video shows a Waymo robotaxi driving in the wrong lane to avoid unicyclists in San Francisco. This video got a lot of attention.
People are getting worried about self-driving cars, especially after someone set fire to one of Waymo’s vehicles in February. NHTSA is investigating about 22 incidents involving Waymo’s fifth-generation automated driving system. This includes crashes and situations where the car didn’t follow traffic rules.
Waymo is supposed to report any crashes to the government. The NHTSA says some incidents involved the car not obeying traffic signs and crashing into things like gates or parked cars. Sometimes, the car would act strangely near traffic signs and then crash.
But it’s not just traffic signs. Waymo cars have also stalled in the middle of intersections, causing traffic jams. There was also a sad incident where a Waymo car hit and killed a dog. Waymo defended itself, saying they’ve done millions of miles without problems and are committed to safety.
Other self-driving companies are facing problems too. Cruise, a rival of Waymo owned by General Motors, had its license suspended after one of its cars hit a pedestrian and dragged her along the road. With all this attention on self-driving cars, it’s a tough time for companies like Waymo and Cruise.
