Google's autonomous robo-taxi Waymo recently was involved in an accident where it collided with a bicycle, prompting U.S. authorities to launch an investigation.
According to major foreign media on the 8th (local time), on the 6th, a Waymo vehicle operating in San Francisco collided with a bicycle at an intersection. The robo-taxi stopped upon seeing a truck entering from another direction at the intersection, but it failed to properly notice the bicycle following behind the truck and proceeded. The person riding the bicycle reportedly sustained only minor injuries that did not require hospital treatment.
Earlier, General Motors (GM)'s robo-taxi Cruise had its operations suspended in San Francisco due to a series of accidents, drawing attention to the outcome of this recent incident. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have also begun an accident investigation into this case. Waymo operates in three cities: Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
In August of last year, California authorized Waymo and Cruise to operate unmanned robo-taxis within San Francisco. However, Cruise's authorization was revoked after it collided with a fire truck responding to an emergency and caused serious injury to a woman at a city intersection in consecutive accidents. The City of San Francisco also filed a lawsuit arguing that "due to significant safety concerns regarding unmanned robo-taxis, the state government's decision to authorize autonomous driving operations should be revoked."
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