this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2025
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Waymo Just Reprogrammed Its Robotaxis to Drive Less Safely (futurism.com)
submitted 1 day ago by tonytins@pawb.social to c/technology@lemmy.world
15 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Besides convenience, one of the main benefits of self-driving cars is supposed to be safety.

Yet in a bizarre move, Waymo — whose self-driving cabs had been enjoying extraordinary safety metrics — has just taken steps to make its robotaxis more human-like, eroding the safety narrative that’s been central to the autonomous vehicle narrative.

Recent reporting by The Wall Street Journal observed a startling change in Waymos’ road etiquette, a new aggressive streak that would make a BMW driver blush. These include illegal U-turns, aggressive lane switching, rolling through cross walks, and running red lights.

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[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

In a "Our cars are faster" move?

These include illegal U-turns, aggressive lane switching, rolling through cross walks, and running red lights.

They like fines?

[–] thallamabond@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

Oh, they do not have to pay 'fines'

However, if the car is driverless, there is likely no punishment.

According to the Atlanta Police Standard Operating Procedure, they are told not to issue citations to driverless vehicles.

The standards read in part:

“The court system is currently unable to process traffic citations for AVs with no human operator. If the vehicle violates a traffic law, where a citation would be warranted, the officer must write a report providing the details surrounding the incident and the law that was violated.”

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/different-rules-humans-robots-apd-says-court-system-cannot-process-citations-waymo/ZITFHSMJCVDHPIPDXSRW46ALRU/

After this incident a Waymo self-drove around a stopped school bus, there were no charges, but this article says that will change in 2026

https://abc7news.com/post/mountain-view-based-waymos-driving-cars-investigated-failing-stop-properly-school-bus-atlanta-report/18047698/