In the USA, a Waymo robot taxi had an accident with a cyclist.
The cyclist was obscured by a large truck driving through the intersection. After following the truck, the cyclist turned left and entered the path of the Waymo One. After detection, braking was initiated, but the collision could not be avoided. This is how it is expressed Waymo, who called the police to the scene of the accident and contacted other relevant authorities.
The Waymo vehicle incident occurred about four months after an autonomous vehicle from the General Motors subsidiary Cruise hit a pedestrian in San Francisco and dragged her several meters, causing the person to suffer serious injuries. An independent investigation into this accident concluded that the Cruise robotaxi crash was caused by the pedestrian who was first thrown into the path of the robotaxi by a human-operated vehicle.
The Cruise incident led to the suspension of the company’s driverless permits in California and a federal investigation. Cruise voluntarily recalled its cars to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in November.
Waymo is one of three companies in the state California, which has approval to use autonomous vehicles without a human safety driver at the wheel to take over in an emergency. Based in Mountain View, California, Waymo operates a fleet of 250 robotaxis in the Bay Area and is working to expand its driverless service to Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.