"If we can get more folks off all the roads and their personal vehicles and use the safer service which our stats show, at least in our service in the cities where we operate, we are contributing to less crashes," Anthony Perez, Waymo's northeast policy manager, stated.
London's taxi drivers have clashed with driverless car firm Waymo after its vehicles were caught hogging electric charging bays meant exclusively for black cabs. Cab groups report numerous instances of Waymo's electric cars plugging in at dedicated e-taxi points, forcing Transport for London to step in. Representatives from the industry say frustrated taxi drivers have taken matters into their own hands by cancelling the robocars' charging sessions.
"Consumers don't have all the information at once," Griffin Li, the app's 19-year-old creator, told SFGATE. "They have to sort of make suboptimal decisions and spend more money. And this is just a way to help."
The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it is opening an investigation after a Waymo self-driving vehicle struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, last week, causing minor injuries and renewing concerns about the safety of robotaxis. The car safety agency said on Thursday that the child ran across the street on January 23 from behind a double-parked SUV towards the school and was struck by the Alphabet-unit Waymo autonomous vehicle during normal school drop-off hours.