Tag: AV

What happens when a Waymo is at fault in a crash?

On May 1, 2025, AZfamily’s investigative reporter Derek Staal did a piece about Waymo; it of course piqued my interest… What happens when a Waymo is at fault in a crash? , here’s an excerpt

Federal crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows Waymo vehicles were involved in at least 202 crashes in Arizona between 2021 and 2024, ranging from minor scrapes and door dings to 31 crashes that resulted in injuries. But the records are heavily redacted and do not indicate who was at fault.

Arizona’s Family Investigates spent six months collecting and reviewing police reports on Waymo crashes in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa and Tempe. Of the 71 police-documented crashes involving Waymos, officers determined the self-driving car was not at fault 87% of the time. In 13% of cases, however, police blamed the Waymo vehicle.

Continue reading “What happens when a Waymo is at fault in a crash?”

NHTSA’s investigation into Tesla “full self-driving” has link to Arizona

Interesting in terms of what this might mean for autonomous vehicles; tesla has been oft criticized for relying on cameras, rather than other systems (e.g. lidar) that can “see” in other conditions.

It also has a link to Arizona as one of the four incidents was a fatality on I-17 in November of 2023. It was described in detail in, of all places, the Hindustan Times (sourced to the AP) article (and not, e.g. in the Arizona Republic?).

Sun glare seems more an excuse than anything else. If “you” (that’s either a person driving or some autonomous system) can’t “see”, you must slow down to avoid colliding with whatever might be in front of you. Continue reading “NHTSA’s investigation into Tesla “full self-driving” has link to Arizona”

Driver in fatal Uber crash rejects plea deal

The case grinds on; police say the driver involved in the “autonomous” uber-pedestrian death in 2018 was watching TV instead of watching the road. Prosecutors (finally) brought negligent homicide charges in 2020. The current news item of interest is the driver has recently rejected an offer which would entail the driver pleading guilty to the charge in exchange for it being treated as a “non-dangerous” felony. That would, almost certainly, result in a sentence of only probation and no incarceration. Continue reading “Driver in fatal Uber crash rejects plea deal”

Waymo releases data on 6 million miles

“In its first report on its autonomous vehicle operations in Phoenix, Arizona, Waymo said that it was involved in 18 crashes and 29 near-miss collisions…” reports the Verge

The 18 refer to actual crashes where actual contact was made was contacted with another vehicle (or potentially if it has been, or bicyclist). There were no injuries.

The 29 near-misses refer to simulated responses of their AV system; which didn’t actually happen, because the human driver intervened. The vast majority of Miles logged were with a human “safety driver” present.

By the way here’s the story of the kook that caused one of the crashes, he was apparently a disgruntled ex-Waymo driver ; it also includes a link to the nut who brandished a gun at a waymo driver, apparently because he was aggreived by the waymo vehicles.

Continue reading “Waymo releases data on 6 million miles”

Former Waymo contractor arrested in Tempe crash

Will the driver be held accountable for the Waymo Jan 30 crash near Warner and Rural? Video of the incident show a driver who police say is Raymond Tang traveling along a 45mph posted road swerving, weaving, speeding up and slowing down, and finally successfully maneuvering himself in front of another vehicle and “brake-checking” into a minor crash.

Notice that to be guilty of assault, actually causing an injury is not required, merely “(Intentionally) placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury” is assault. Using a weapon makes it aggravated assault, a serious felony. The intentionally part can sometimes be hard to prove — though videos of such incidents make it obvious to any reasonable person that the acts were intentional. Continue reading “Former Waymo contractor arrested in Tempe crash”

Personal delivery device

Polar Labs delivery robot testing in Tempe, seen June 2025

Autonomous Deliver Robots were enabled in Arizona in 2018, and further re-vamped the law in 2020.
Side-note:This all reminded me of the pizza delivery robot in an episode of Black Mirror.
As of Sept 2025, Doordash says they are rolling out “Doordash dot” for testing.
Polar labs based in Tempe/Mesa have been testing for some time (?early to mid-2024. At the time I saw them, pictured right, they were still accompanied by a “chaperone” following on an ebike).

Polar Labs appears to be supplying doordash.

Continue reading “Personal delivery device”

Report: Uber driver streaming Hulu prior to deadly self-driving crash in Tempe

[below is for historical purposes; please visit the main consolidated page at uber-involved-pedestrian-fatality. The driver was finally charged in Sept 2020]

Tempe Police’s report on the March 2018 Uber-involved pedestrian fatality has been released, 318 pages(!) it was reported on 6/22/2018 from various news organizations. It would be good if all serious and fatal traffic crashes were investigated so thoroughly. Continue reading “Report: Uber driver streaming Hulu prior to deadly self-driving crash in Tempe”

Uber involved pedestrian fatality

Preface: This crash has nothing to do with bicycling other than the pedestrian was pushing a bicycle at the time. Because of the notoriety, the incident has its own wiki article.

3/18/2018 night-time (10pm?)  mid-block pedestrian fatality might not even be reported in the news; but this being the first reported AV (Autonomous Vehicle) traffic fatality (in the world?!), it’s huge news. Continue reading “Uber involved pedestrian fatality”

Drivers are dangerous

McClintock and Apache wreck photo: Mark Beach/Fresco News

last week’s Uber-involved crash should highlight the current state of affairs: Drivers are dangerous. Tempe Police cited a “human” driver for making a bad left at McClintock and Apache causing the crash with the Uber/Volvo SUV to rollover on its side.  The Uber was being autonomously driven at the time, according to the company.

There are over 100,000 reported wrecks per year in Arizona involving motor vehicle drivers only, with hundreds dead and thousands injured; a driver is at fault in each and every one of those incidents.  Continue reading “Drivers are dangerous”