Humans make terrible drivers

https://x.com/kvogt/status/1679517290847694848?s=20

That safety argument, already iffy at best, imploded on October 2, when a hit-and-run driver struck a San Francisco pedestrian who landed beneath a Cruise robotaxi—which then dragged her 20 feet, potentially worsening her injuries. Later that month, the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s driverless permit, accusing executives of trying to conceal what had happened. A few days later, the company halted driverless operations nationwide. Within a few weeks, Vogt was out as CEO.

Self-driving defenders have scrambled to draw a bright line between Cruise and other, potentially more safety-conscious AV companies. Nevertheless, skepticism of the entire industry is now ascendant. “When it comes to autonomous vehicles,” a former mayor of Mountain View, California (home to Waymo’s headquarters) wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle in October, “the challenges are many.” In November, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called on California regulators to exercise caution deploying any robotaxi services in her city—regardless of the company providing them.