Latest news with #EthanTeicher
American Military News
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- American Military News
Waymo recalls more than 1,200 automated vehicles after minor crashes
Waymo, the autonomous ride-hailing company that launched its services in Los Angeles late last year, is recalling more than 1,200 vehicles due to a software defect, the National Highway Traffic Safety Assn. said Wednesday. The recall comes after a series of minor crashes with gates, chains and other obstacles in the road that did not result in any injuries, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said in a filing with the NHTSA. The recall applies to 1,212 driverless vehicles operating on Waymo's fifth-generation automated driving software. A Waymo autonomous self-driving Jaguar taxi drives near Venice Beach on March 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (/TNS) Waymo released a software update to resolve the issue, and that update has already been rolled out in all affected vehicles, the recall notice said. The company operates more than 1,500 vehicles across Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix and Austin. The recall does not affect any vehicles currently on the road, said Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher. Self-driving vehicles have come under increased scrutiny following several issues with Tesla's autonomous technology and a 2023 incident in which a pedestrian was seriously injured by a Cruise vehicle. The NHTSA opened an investigation into Waymo in May 2024 after receiving reports of 22 incidents involving the fifth-generation software. The agency said several incidents under investigation 'involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid.' The investigation remains open. In February 2024, Waymo recalled 444 vehicles after two minor collisions in Arizona. Although incidents involving Waymo vehicles generate attention, the vehicles are safer than human drivers, according to data collected by insurer Swiss Re. Based on data collected by Waymo, their driverless vehicles had 81% fewer airbag deployment crashes, 78% fewer injury-causing crashes and 62% fewer police-reported crashes than traditional vehicles driving the same distance. Waymo vehicles rely on cameras, sensors and a type of laser radar called lidar to operate autonomously. 'Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S.,' Teicher said. 'Our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer.' Operated by Google's parent company, Alphabet, Waymo put its first autonomous vehicle on the road in 2015. It launched its driverless ride-hailing service known as Waymo One in 2020, and has plans to expand to Atlanta, Miami and Washington, D.C., next year. ___ © 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
San Francisco Chronicle
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Waymo recalled 1,200 robotaxis after repeated crashes with road barriers, filings show
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Alphabet, recalled more than 1,200 self-driving vehicles late last year following a series of minor collisions with stationary barriers such as gates and chains, according to regulatory filings made public this week. The move came amid an ongoing federal investigation into the safety of its automated driving system. The recall affected 1,212 vehicles equipped with Waymo's fifth-generation self-driving software and stemmed from at least 16 reported low-speed incidents between 2022 and late 2024. According to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, none of the collisions resulted in injuries. 'The issue has been addressed in our latest ADS software, which has been deployed across the fleet,' the company said in a statement. As of December, Waymo completed the rollout of its sixth-generation software to its entire fleet. The federal agency launched a preliminary investigation into Waymo's system in May 2024 after receiving reports of vehicles striking visible objects that 'a competent driver would be expected to avoid.' The agency said its review included 22 such incidents, and the inquiry remains open. 'Waymo has updated the ADS software, free of charge,' the recall notice said. 'All affected vehicles were repaired by December 26, 2024.' The company said the filings were made public 'to fulfill relevant regulatory reporting obligations.' The company currently operates more than 1,500 autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin. 'Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S.,' spokesperson Ethan Teicher said in a statement. 'Our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Waymo recalls more than 1,200 automated vehicles after minor crashes
Waymo, the autonomous ride-hailing company that launched its services in Los Angeles late last year, is recalling more than 1,200 vehicles due to a software defect, the National Highway Traffic Safety Assn. said Wednesday. The recall comes after a series of minor crashes with gates, chains and other obstacles in the road that did not result in any injuries, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said in a filing with the NHTSA. The recall applies to 1,212 driverless vehicles operating on Waymo's fifth-generation automated driving software. Waymo released a software update to resolve the issue, and that update has already been rolled out in all affected vehicles, the recall notice said. The company operates more than 1,500 vehicles across Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix and Austin. The recall does not affect any vehicles currently on the road, said Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher. Read more: Waymo is getting ready to tackle Los Angeles' freeways. How have the robotaxis fared so far? Self-driving vehicles have come under increased scrutiny following several issues with Tesla's autonomous technology and a 2023 incident in which a pedestrian was seriously injured by a Cruise vehicle. The NHTSA opened an investigation into Waymo in May 2024 after receiving reports of 22 incidents involving the fifth-generation software. The agency said several incidents under investigation "involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid." The investigation remains open. Read more: U.S. agency launches investigation into Tesla's self-driving technology In February 2024, Waymo recalled 444 vehicles after two minor collisions in Arizona. Although incidents involving Waymo vehicles generate attention, the vehicles are safer than human drivers, according to data collected by insurer Swiss Re. Based on data collected by Waymo, their driverless vehicles had 81% fewer airbag deployment crashes, 78% fewer injury-causing crashes and 62% fewer police-reported crashes than traditional vehicles driving the same distance. Waymo vehicles rely on cameras, sensors and a type of laser radar called lidar to operate autonomously. Read more: L.A. man tries to drive off in autonomous Waymo car. Company says it's prepared 'Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S.," Teicher said. "Our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer." Operated by Google's parent company, Alphabet, Waymo put its first autonomous vehicle on the road in 2015. It launched its driverless ride-hailing service known as Waymo One in 2020, and has plans to expand to Atlanta, Miami and Washington, D.C., next year. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
US' Leading Autonomous Vehicle Company Collected 589 Parking Tickets Last Year in San Francisco
Waymo, the US' leading self-driving taxi company that's backed by Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc, collected almost 600 parking tickets last year in San Francisco, the city where the rideshare service began testing in 2021. Tickets for Waymo's fleet, which is comprised of 300 vehicles, equated to $65,065. Comparatively, Los Angeles tagged Waymo with 75 tickets last year, where the company has 100 deployed vehicles, but its service was launched in November of 2024. Waymo's fleet is fully electric and primarily uses Jaguar's I-PACE SUV. The autonomous rideshare company has attributed its San Francisco tickets to vehicles dropping off passengers in commercial loading zones when alternative drop-off areas were congested main roads or a spot too far from the rider's destination, along with brief parking between trips when cars were too far from Waymo's facility. Waymo SUVs have also been cited for blocking traffic and ignoring street cleaning schedules. Waymo spokesman Ethan Teicher told The Washington Post that safety is the rideshare company's highest priority 'both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets.' Teicher added that Waymo cars are designed 'to take the safest action available during the few minutes we are picking up or dropping off riders, which is when many of these parking citations occurred.' Sterling Haywood, who has been a San Francisco parking control officer for 17 years, told The Washington Post: 'I gave it [Waymo vehicle] the same courtesy I would give if there was somebody in the car.' Haywood described this courtesy as honking twice to warn the Waymo taxi that it was parked in a street cleaning zone during enforcement hours in San Francisco's Mission District. After the Waymo vehicle didn't move, he placed a $96 dollar ticket on its window. Waymo has received the most tickets for street cleaning violations at 138 citations, however, it's important to note that Waymo's 589 tickets last year in San Francisco represent less than 1% of the city's 1.2 million issued tickets during 2024. In addition to Los Angeles, Waymo operates in Phoenix, Arizona, and Austin, Texas. Waymo operates 24/7 across San Francisco, so accounting for less than 1% of the city's tickets during 2024 can be viewed as quite impressive. The organization's autonomous technology is also relatively early in its development, launching in San Francisco in 2021. Unlike General Motors-backed Cruise's self-driving vehicles, which hit San Francisco streets in 2022, Waymo is still operating its fleet and growing. Cruise suspended its operations in October 2023 after a series of incidents, including dragging a pedestrian, which occurred during the same month. General Motors had invested $10 billion into Cruise by the time the company shut down. While it would be ideal for Waymo SUVs to avoid tickets altogether during instances like parking in street cleaning zones during enforcement hours, the rideshare service would likely receive more criticism if its fleet dropped off pedestrians in dangerous areas to avoid citations.
Telegraph
14-03-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Driverless cars slapped with parking tickets after breaking rules
Driverless cars racked up nearly 600 parking tickets in San Francisco last year as robot taxis favoured convenience over rules of the road. Waymo autonomous vehicles, part of the Alphabet tech empire which includes Google and YouTube, received 589 tickets for parking violations in 2024, according to records from San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency. The fines issued amounted to $65,065 (£50,326) and were handed out for parking in prohibited areas, obstructing traffic and disobeying street cleaning restrictions, according to city records seen by the Washington Post. Sterling Haywood, 45, who has worked as a parking warden for 17 years, told the Post he had ticketed a Waymo driverless car parked in the Mission District during hours designated for street cleaning in January. 'I gave it the same courtesy I would give if there was somebody in the car,' he said, adding that he honked twice but the car didn't move, so he placed a $96 ticket on the window. Waymo rolled out a test service in San Francisco in 2021 before making its fleet of robot taxis available to the general public in June 2024. Driverless technology's supporters hope it will eventually be introduced in Britain. The company now operates more than 300 robot vehicles ferrying passengers around San Francisco, but its driverless cars have encountered many parking dilemmas faced by humans. San Francisco parking wardens handed out nearly 1.2m parking tickets in 2024, worth almost $119m, according to the San Francisco Standard. A Waymo spokesman said the driverless cars were still learning the social norms and rules of the road. Ethan Teicher, of Waymo, told the Post that the company was refining its 'capability to better avoid parking citations', adding that the driverless cars had been designed 'to take the safest action available during the few minutes we are picking up or dropping off riders, which is when many of these parking citations occurred'. The driverless vehicles are able to recognise appropriate parking spaces, but may pull over in a loading bay to drop off a rider 'if the only other available locations are a congested arterial road, or somewhere much further from where the rider needed to go', Mr Teicher said. The spokesman added that safety remained the company's highest priority 'both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets', and confirmed that the company pays the fines. Driverless cars in California cannot currently receive tickets for moving traffic violations, such as speeding or failing to stop at zebra crossings, as these fines must be issued to a driver. A state law has been passed allowing autonomous vehicle companies to be fined for such traffic offences, but this will not be in force until July 2026. Self-driving cars have also attracted criticism for obstructing emergency service vehicles in San Francisco, prompting city officials to demand greater oversight.
