Waymo’s Autonomous Cars Cut Out Human Drivers in Road Tests

Waymo’s Autonomous Cars Cut Out Human Drivers in Road Tests
Waymo, the autonomous car company from Google’s parent company Alphabet, has started testing a fleet of
self-driving vehicles without any backup drivers on public roads, its chief executive said Tuesday.
While the prospect of cars without emergency drivers may raise concerns among some passengers,
Waymo said it had confidence in the safety of its self-driving technology.
Consumer Watchdog, a frequent critic of Alphabet, said
that data demonstrated that the cars are not ready to drive without any human intervention and that Waymo was following the Silicon Valley model of “beta testing” a new technology on the public.
But Waymo is believed to be the first company to test vehicles on public roads without a driver ready to take over in an emergency.
In December, Waymo published a report for California’s Department of Motor Vehicles about how frequently its car “disengaged” — deactivating its autonomous mode
because of a system failure or safety risk and forcing a human driver to take over.
The company did not say whether it was testing the driverless cars in environments considered challenging for autonomous vehicles, like bridges or tunnels, or more difficult conditions, like driving at night or in rain
and snow — usually not a big concern in the dry Phoenix climate.
Dozens of companies are testing self-driving technology on public roads across the United States
and some autonomous features are available in today’s cars.