Really exciting data here. It seems like Waymo is not only on the right track with their “safety first” approach, but they’re well along the road.
How soon would you all let a vehicle autonomously drive you, if ever? Personally, I would ride in a Waymo today, but nervously. I think in 10 years, I’ll worry more if the driver ISN’T autonomous.
TheBeatGoesAnanas on
I’ve been using Waymo for about a year now, and I always try to get one before calling a Lyft or Uber. Zero concerns with the driving behavior in an urban setting, where speeds rarely go above 30mph. The cars can be overly cautious at times (eg when a stopped car blocks traffic), which is how you want them to behave.
IrishThree on
I live in Michigan with shitty weather…..how does it handle potholes and ice?
If it has those two under control, I’d pay like 10 grand to modify my car and sleep my way to and from work.
pineappleshoos on
Never used Waymo and never will, give me a human driver any day of the week. Is life so bad that we cant even drive a car now ffs
Aware_Bear6544 on
I ride them regularly on the west side of LA in replacement of Ubers. They’re nice, easy to change AC/music settings on, and drive cautiously. Also they won’t spout their unhinged political opinions or conspiracies at you whereas Uber drivers around here can be a little insane.
The main downside is that they don’t do freeway routes so it’s much slower heading long distances, but I could take the train to downtown most of the time anyways.
GoodTeletubby on
My big concern about generating public enthusiasm is how well does it handle foul weather and bad roads? Black ice, whiteout conditions, torrential downpours, that kind of thing? Dense water in the air tends to wreak havoc on EM-spectrum based sensors, and cameras are gonna be just as bad at picking up black ice as the human eye. Those are the kind of conditions where I *most* want to not be the one doing the driving, while simultaneously being at my least comfortable trusting a system operating with what I know is degraded information.
If you have to have the human take over in those sort of conditions, I think you’re going to run into the problem of people going “Why would I pay for it when it only does all the easy/sometimes even enjoyable parts of driving for me, but as soon as things get difficult and/or stressful, it’s useless, and I have to do it myself?”.
Knightraven257 on
What this actually means is waymo is safer than the idiots who can’t get off their phone while driving. No way you are going to convince me they are safer than a human driver who is actively paying attention with both hands on the wheel and who is practicing defensive driving.
mr34727 on
Awesome, now program them to get out of the left lane when not passing.
heldentenor2b on
I wish these were available to buy for personal use. I hate driving.
all_akimbo on
I can’t tell from reading the abstract if this includes safety for people outside the car. They measure something like “claims per million miles” or something. If the car hits a pedestrian would that be counted in the “bodily injury” part of this metric?
10 Comments
Really exciting data here. It seems like Waymo is not only on the right track with their “safety first” approach, but they’re well along the road.
How soon would you all let a vehicle autonomously drive you, if ever? Personally, I would ride in a Waymo today, but nervously. I think in 10 years, I’ll worry more if the driver ISN’T autonomous.
I’ve been using Waymo for about a year now, and I always try to get one before calling a Lyft or Uber. Zero concerns with the driving behavior in an urban setting, where speeds rarely go above 30mph. The cars can be overly cautious at times (eg when a stopped car blocks traffic), which is how you want them to behave.
I live in Michigan with shitty weather…..how does it handle potholes and ice?
If it has those two under control, I’d pay like 10 grand to modify my car and sleep my way to and from work.
Never used Waymo and never will, give me a human driver any day of the week. Is life so bad that we cant even drive a car now ffs
I ride them regularly on the west side of LA in replacement of Ubers. They’re nice, easy to change AC/music settings on, and drive cautiously. Also they won’t spout their unhinged political opinions or conspiracies at you whereas Uber drivers around here can be a little insane.
The main downside is that they don’t do freeway routes so it’s much slower heading long distances, but I could take the train to downtown most of the time anyways.
My big concern about generating public enthusiasm is how well does it handle foul weather and bad roads? Black ice, whiteout conditions, torrential downpours, that kind of thing? Dense water in the air tends to wreak havoc on EM-spectrum based sensors, and cameras are gonna be just as bad at picking up black ice as the human eye. Those are the kind of conditions where I *most* want to not be the one doing the driving, while simultaneously being at my least comfortable trusting a system operating with what I know is degraded information.
If you have to have the human take over in those sort of conditions, I think you’re going to run into the problem of people going “Why would I pay for it when it only does all the easy/sometimes even enjoyable parts of driving for me, but as soon as things get difficult and/or stressful, it’s useless, and I have to do it myself?”.
What this actually means is waymo is safer than the idiots who can’t get off their phone while driving. No way you are going to convince me they are safer than a human driver who is actively paying attention with both hands on the wheel and who is practicing defensive driving.
Awesome, now program them to get out of the left lane when not passing.
I wish these were available to buy for personal use. I hate driving.
I can’t tell from reading the abstract if this includes safety for people outside the car. They measure something like “claims per million miles” or something. If the car hits a pedestrian would that be counted in the “bodily injury” part of this metric?