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Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

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Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#371

Post by bigstrat2003 »

bluGill wrote: post #253
ang_cire wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waymo cars are new. Wait until their fleets are 10+ years old. They'll have all the same bad maintenance issues that airplanes, semis, rental cars, and any other company-owned vehicles have.

I expect that Waymo will have standards. In theory Uber does as well, but since the drivers own their own cars they can't enforce them. A 15 year old car that has been well maintained is still safe to have on the road (within the limits of the safety systems on board), while a 6 year old car with a lot of miles that hasn't been maintained can be deadly.

You may be right, but historically speaking, "this company will stick to quality standards" is a bad bet compared to "this company will cut corners to squeeze out more profit".

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#372

Post by robocat »

jjfoooo4 wrote: post #257
robocat wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd really love to see some good statistics on the risks of speeding on motorways. I often wonder about laws that are ostensibly there to prevent dangerous actions, about whether they actually help prevent dangerous driving. This guy analyses tailgating: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6n_lR09sjoU Awesome software although he seems biased (e.g. no mention of pedestrians), but he does say that tailgating is much more da…

I mean, isn't the most common reason people tailgate is that they're frustrated that a slow driver is in a lane they want to use to drive fast in?

I am surprised that research backs you up... my guess had been that the majority of tailgaters are just arseholes (technical term) so I checked:

  There is substantial research that frustration with a slow driver in a fast lane is a significant factor in aggressive tailgating (as a way to express anger, control, or impatience) to get others to change lanes.
There's a balance between selfish lane-hoggers and selfishly impolite/dangerous tailgaters.

But perhaps research doesn't measure arseholeness?!

For selfish reasons I usually let dangerous tailgaters pass me: I want to avoid the bad outcomes from pissed off aggressive drivers.

If I'm stuck behind someone slow, I usually politely wait or politely flash lights or politely tap horn. I think Tailgating is personally dangerous as a way to signal my displeasure and I value my life highly. Polite drivers generally let one pass, and impolite drivers do whatever the fuck they want.

Regardless, it would be interesting to see stats on how risky tailgating actually is (unfortunately stats are sure to be biased by correlation versus causation).

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#373

Post by bsder »

saalweachter wrote: post #290
s1mon wrote: post #10

How will Waymos handle speed limits on highways? In the city, they seem to stick to the rules. A large percentage of drivers in the bay area, including non-emergency police, drive well above the legal limit regularly. Unless Waymo sticks to the slow lane, it's going to be a weird issue.

It always blows my mind how aghast some people are at the idea of driving the speed limit . How dangerous they make it sound! My dudes, I have been driving the speed limit, even on freeways, for decades. Nothing bad happens. Your car doesn't explode. You don't instantly create thousand-car pileups. You get passed slightly more often than when you are speeding. You pass fewer cars. You get to your destination a few mi…

> Nothing bad happens.

Until it does.

The biggest problem in car accidents is speed differential. When you are not driving the prevailing speed, your speed differential is significantly higher and the accident will be worse than average.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#374

Post by dzhiurgis »

wstrange wrote: post #125
lumens wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Truly curious - have you tried it recently?

I have HW4, and have tried FSD with every major release. It works brilliantly, 99.5% of the time. The issue is that the failure mode is catastrophic. Like getting confused with the lane marking and driving off the shoulder. And the complete inability to read construction zone signs (blasting through a 50 KM zone at 100 KM). I'm deeply skeptical that the current sensor suite and hardware is going to have enough comput…

> The issue is that the failure mode is catastrophic.

Given FSD does at least 10x more miles than Waymo, we'd see people getting killed themselves daily. Instead we see tons of videos on Waymo erratic behavior and crashes. Something doesn't add up.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#375

Post by fragmede »

ang_cire wrote: post #205
nradov wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waymo cars are also more likely to be properly maintained. I've noticed that a lot of Uber / Lyft cars have some kind of warning light on the dashboard: check engine, low tire pressure, overdue for service.

Waymo cars are new. Wait until their fleets are 10+ years old. They'll have all the same bad maintenance issues that airplanes, semis, rental cars, and any other company-owned vehicles have.

If you have access to a Google campus that is 10 years old, they seem to be doing fine? A little bit worse for wear, perhaps, but it's not like Google hasn't encountered this issue ever before.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#376

Post by fragmede »

asdfman123 wrote: post #359
quantummagic wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised by all the uncynical compliments for the service, by so many on this site. We're just in the pre-enshittification days of this service. It's fine to enjoy it now, but it will definitely get worse once all the competition has been put out of business. Please enjoy these mandatory ads while we drive you to your destination...

There's no way for this technology not to be funded by multibillion companies, for now at the very least.

http://comma.ai seems to be doing alright, they just announced the new coma four. I tell all of my friends about it and that they should get one, or get a better car that supports it, unless they've got a Tesla. It's not self driving, it's just really really good cruise control.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#377

Post by bigstrat2003 »

circuit10 wrote: post #54
s1mon wrote: post #10

How will Waymos handle speed limits on highways? In the city, they seem to stick to the rules. A large percentage of drivers in the bay area, including non-emergency police, drive well above the legal limit regularly. Unless Waymo sticks to the slow lane, it's going to be a weird issue.

As someone who doesn’t drive but has done a UK theory test - aren’t you supposed to stick to the “slow lane” (no matter how fast you’re going) unless you’re overtaking? And that’s why it’s not actually called the “fast lane” but the “passing lane”. So I don’t see why you would be in the passing lane unless you’re going faster than others anyway. And there are plenty of lorries and coaches (trucks and buses in US term…

Yes, you are correct. But lots of people in the US have no idea how to drive.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#378

Post by bigstrat2003 »

bsder wrote: post #373
saalweachter wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It always blows my mind how aghast some people are at the idea of driving the speed limit . How dangerous they make it sound! My dudes, I have been driving the speed limit, even on freeways, for decades. Nothing bad happens. Your car doesn't explode. You don't instantly create thousand-car pileups. You get passed slightly more often than when you are speeding. You pass fewer cars. You get to your destination a few mi…

> Nothing bad happens. Until it does. The biggest problem in car accidents is speed differential . When you are not driving the prevailing speed, your speed differential is significantly higher and the accident will be worse than average.

That is the fault of the person driving faster than the speed limit, not the person driving the speed limit.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#379

Post by usageranonyme »

cflewis wrote: post #320
Austin_Conlon wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One time my driver had a TV show playing on their dashboard phone on 101.

This happens to me >70% in the Bay peninsula now.

I tried to report this and Uber does not make it easy. It does not fit in any of the multiple choice categories and there's no freeform. At least there was none back then, started to use waymo.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#380

Post by dzhiurgis »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #331
lumens wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps more a reaction to pressure from Tesla; the latest FSD builds show full autonomy is coming very soon. Without highway driving, Waymo would quickly be seen as a distant second in the race when the safety driver is removed from Robotaxis in Austin (supposedly before EOY 2025).

"Ignore the previous eighteen wildly off predictions; this time we got it for sure!" Note, in July of this year, Musk predicted robotaxi service for half the country by the end of 2025. It's November now and they haven't even removed the safety monitors, in any city!

> how dare they beta test this on public

> they haven't even removed safety drivers, loooosers!

Can't win either of you guys.

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