Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana expressed her belief that society will accept the occasional fatal crash caused by self-driving vehicles as the price of technological advancement. Mawakana says that because self-driving cars are not “perfection,” it is a matter of “when” not “if” there are fatal crashes involving robotaxis.
SFGate reports that during an onstage discussion with TechCrunch’s transportation editor Kirsten Korosec at the annual Disrupt conference in San Francisco, Tekedra Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo, addressed the hypothetical scenario of a fatal crash involving a self-driving car. Despite the company’s unwavering focus on safety, Mawakana acknowledged that achieving perfection in autonomous vehicle technology is unlikely.
When asked if society would accept a death caused by a robotaxi, Mawakana responded, “I think that society will.” She emphasized the importance of holding companies to a high safety standard and maintaining transparency about their crash records. Mawakana pointed to Waymo’s “hub” of safety information on its website as an example of the company’s commitment to openness.
While self-driving car companies like Waymo claim they will dramatically reduce crashes, Mawakana admitted that they will not eliminate them entirely. “We have to be in this open and honest dialogue about the fact that we know it’s not perfection,” she said. The company actively plans for the possibility of fatal crashes, with Mawakana stating, “We really worry as a company about those days. You know, we don’t say ‘whether.’ We say ‘when.’ And we plan for them.”
Throughout the interview, Mawakana stressed the importance of companies being transparent about their vehicles’ performance. When asked if there had been instances where Waymo had to “pump the breaks” on its expansion plans due to safety concerns, she revealed that the company pulls back and retests “all the time.” One example she cited was the challenge of ensuring their vehicles do not block emergency vehicles.
Breitbart News previously reported on a Waymo robotaxi causing chaos by tryin to run over a fire hose as firefighters battled a blaze in San Francisco:
According to a report from Mission Local, a Waymo-operated robotaxi stumbled upon the scene of an explosion-related fire and refused to move out of the way. Police officers can be seen using a variety of tactics to stop the electric car from running over a fire hose in body camera footage. “It doesn’t know what to do!” one officer shouted at the scene.
A policeman lit a flare in an effort to stop the car, hoping that the smoke would prevent the taxi from crossing the water line. Officers attempted to stop the taxi, but it kept moving forward, so they asked Waymo for assistance. One of the officers said to the dispatcher, “Got a bit of a pickle. I got an autonomous vehicle, the Waymo, it’s inching slowly and closely to one of the main water lines that the SF Fire just charged. Can’t run it over,” he says. “I don’t trust this AI.”
Without directly mentioning Cruise, the autonomous car company that faced scrutiny after one of its vehicles dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco and the company allegedly hid video evidence from regulators and the press, Mawakana took a subtle jab at Waymo’s competitors, including Tesla. She expressed her view that no other company is meeting the necessary transparency standards.
“If you are not being transparent, then it is my view that you are not doing what is necessary in order to actually earn the right to make the roads safer,” Mawakana stated firmly.
Read more at SFGate here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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