Waymo recalls 3,800 robotaxis after one drove itself into a flood

Waymo is recalling almost 3,800 robotaxis amid fears they may go off-script and drive into floods on high-speed roads. All 3,791 cars running Waymo’s fifth and sixth-generation Automated Driving Systems (ADS) are being taken off the road before they potentially injure passengers. "The software may allow the vehicle to slow and …

[Anonymous Coward]

Look out for the sper lash

What's a sper lash?

It's the noise a Waymo taxi makes when it hits a flood.

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

Waymo better than average human drivers?

That is a bit country dependent, since learning to drive and getting the license have different hurdles. But there are some where robot drivers are already better than the average.

US: Anyone can teach you how to drive on public roads - including your uncle and aunt with their strange driving habits to ignore sings and lights. The test is laughable.

Germany: Mandatory 14+ hours theory with a rigorous test. 12+ practical hours with licensed driving instructor for the normal B-class, split between night, city and overland driver. Depending on your skill more, 'cause most prefer you to pass the 1 hour driving exam in the first attempt, with a third special test instructor in the back evaluating you in the most evil situations possible. THEN you are allowed to drive on public roads.

Rest of the world: Some worse than the US (Singapore), some in between, some more strict than Germany. For the latter: Quite a number of EU countries limit the allowed speed you may drive when you are fresh on the road - something we should implement here too...

[PB90210]

Waymo's update: gaffer tape to keep out the water...

It difficult enough for humans to gauge depth of water, hence the number of vehicle recovery shows on TV. How is the machine supposed to distinguish between a puddle and a flood... a dipstick marked '12 May 1854'?

<insert joke about following a blue line on the map>

[Anonymous Coward]

Blue line on the map

Don't even think of going there. Just don't.

Me and a certain female, who I absolutely refuse to identify in case she decides to divorce me, were happily on a canal holiday in a narrow boat.

We were discussing where to look out for along the way. The certain female had a map book open and was working out exactly where we were in relation to nearby towns and attractions along the way.

She's got poor spatial reasoning.

"Where are we on this blue line then?" She asked.

Er................... That's a motorway, dear.

[Tim99]

The Rise of the Machines

Many years ago I hired an "up-market" car from near Manchester airport. I was in Derby and wanted to go to York. I was now living "abroad" and it had been a number of years since I made that trip. I followed the satnav. After a while I realised it was trying to take me to Stoke-on-Trent. I stopped and reset the satnav - It still said York, but now wanted to take me via Altrincham. We got out of the car and went for a cup of tea and a bacon roll. When I got back, success - the hotel I wanted in York was shown with a direct route.

We took it, and all was well until we got near the hotel. I could see it, the satnav wanted me to cross the River Ouse in a straight line down a side road, unfortunately there was no bridge. I drove towards town, crossed the river and came back and found the hotel. When I booked in I told the receptionist that the satnav wanted me in the river, she said that it had happened before - I could have asked them for the coordinates, which apparently did work, the address did not.

Taking the car back to the airport, I mentioned the satnav problem. I was told that to calibrate itself the satnav needed to see 3 satellites. If it couldn't get them "it tried its best", and if that didn't work, that model could use the last location it was "calibrated" as a base. Apparently, where we stopped for the bacon roll probably allowed the system to calibrate itself and then it "worked". I mentioned the attempted river crossing, to be told "you can't always rely on them, sir".

These days the VW Golf talks to Maps on the iPhone, and other than occasionally telling me the new urban road on doesn't exist and that I "should proceed to the route", everything is fine.