Do Waymo Robotaxi Need a Safety Monitor?

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Do Waymo Robotaxi need a safety monitor? Here it looks to be in San Francisco blocking traffic going the other direction. If only the Waymo had some means to direct to pullover

Here is a recent video of a Waymo driving the opposite direction of traffic and blocking traffic.

This happened in 2024 as well.

There are only about 700 Waymo vehicles and they are using hypermapping in geofenced locations in about five cities. This means the vehicles are violating the hypermapping of lanes and lane direction. The lane directions did not change in the years that they were operating. The LIDAR was telling the Waymo that there is traffic ahead of it. It is also backing up and performing moves in a crosswalk and in an intersection that is controlled by traffic lights.

If hypermapping and the movement of the Waymo followed what was hypermapped unless there is a valid safety reason to get out of the way then this should not be happening.

It is a failure of behavior based upon what has been mapped.
It is a failure of the AI and programming.
It is a failure of doing things safely based upon what LIDAR sensors are telling it.

Tesla has not yet been perfect. It dropped off too far from a corner and behind the crosswalk. It was there for several seconds and then drove onwards. The human monitor did not change the driving or the positioning and there was no remote driving takeover.

2 thoughts on “Do Waymo Robotaxi Need a Safety Monitor?”

  1. I’ve pulled into a lane going the wrong way once or twice. Figured it out pretty quick and got back going the right way pretty quick. Never yet caused a problem by it. People do it so if a robot does it I am not going to say ‘Ban the technology!’. Deployments are still in an early phase so I bet it gets better fast.

  2. I would suggest the new technology does. Hey gang, new technology is frequently exiting, and very cool… And often leaves many dead bodies in it’s wake, until we figure out how to “make it work”. That takes time. What I worry about, is those who embrace what they don’t understand, and the most of humanity who will suffer the consequences of arrogance. Yup, a “safety monitor” makes sense. Most importantly, with a new technology that could affect many more people then those who invented it. Just a thought…

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