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Tesla Robotaxis Are Crashing More Than 12 Times as Frequently as Human Drivers
(www.commondreams.org)
this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2025
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Why are they a great idea? What are they making better? How is it worth the real and opportunity costs?
They're safer than human drivers. Tesla cars absolutely are not. But Waymo cars? They do seem to be.
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/12/nx-s1-5634879/why-one-trauma-doctor-sees-self-driving-cars-as-a-public-health-breakthrough
It's still early. We still need more data. They should be closely watched. But self driving cars do appear to be safer. That's why they are a great idea. They are making driving and roads better.
I don't have the means or motivation to do research now from the couch, so I'll concede you may be correct. However, I think it might be even safer to take those same billions of dollars and invest them in mass transit and other infrastructure changes. That would mean fewer car accidents, less pollution, nicer spaces, healthier people, healthier economies, etc. private car ownership cannot be the long term solution. If it's not an outright dead end, it's certainly a side street instead of high speed rail (if you'll pardon a strained metaphor).
While I'd absolutely love better and more public transit, it just doesn't make sense in a lot of areas that are too spread out or don't have enough people per square mile.
So leave that problem for later. Let them keep driving themselves, and focus on improvements where people actually live.
Most people live in or close to cities.