Experts urge regulation of remote operations for robotaxisWaymo says implementing fleet-wide updates to refine processCalifornia regulators say they are looking into incidentBy Abhirup RoySAN FRANCISCO, Dec 27 (Reuters) – A widespread power outage in San Francisco that led to Waymo robotaxis stalling and snarling traffic earlier this month has raised concerns about the readiness of autonomous vehicle operators to tackle major emergencies like earthquakes and floods.Driverless taxis from Alphabet unit Waymo, a ubiquitous feature on the city’s streets, were stuck at intersections with their hazard lights turned on as traffic lights stopped working following a fire at a PG&E substation that knocked out power to roughly one-third of the city on December 20, videos posted on social media showed. Waymo halted operations, resuming a day later.The incident has renewed calls for stricter regulation of the nascent but fast-growing industry as other companies including Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox race to expand robotaxi services in several cities.”If you get a response to a blackout wrong, regulators are derelict if they do not respond to that by requiring some sort of proof that the earthquake scenario will be handled properly,” said Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-engineering professor and autonomous-technology expert.In a statement on Tuesday, Waymo said that while its robotaxis are designed to handle non-operational traffic signals as four-way stops, they occasionally request a confirmation check. Though the vehicles successfully traversed more than 7,000 darkened signals on Saturday, “the outage created a concentrated spike” in confirmation requests that “led to response delays contributing to congestion on already-overwhelmed streets,” Waymo said.Robotaxi operators around the globe use remote access by humans – known in the industry as “teleoperation” – in varying degrees to monitor and control vehicles. Waymo, for example, has a team of human “fleet response” agents who respond to questions from the Waymo Driver, its bot, when it encounters a particular situation.But such remote assistance has its limitations, and the Waymo outage highlights the need to regulate how robotaxi operators use the technology, said Missy Cummings, director of the George Mason University Autonomy and Robotics Center and former adviser to the U.S. road safety regulator.”The whole point of having remote operations is for humans to be there when the system is not responsive in the way it should be,” she said. “The federal government needs to regulate remote operations,” Cummings said. “They need to make sure that there’s backup remote operations when there’s some kind of catastrophic failure.”California’s Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulate and issue permits for the testing and commercial deployment of robotaxis, have said they are looking into the incident.The DMV said it was talking to Waymo and ot in a formal or creative style for better SEO.Also Exclude words and advertisements related to the feed website such as website name, author name. You must only respond with the modified content. Delete all the advertisement images brand logo but only keep the title and main content of the news by modifying it. You must only respond with the modified content. Block any jump outside of the site adarshnews.com. Basically remove any content or link related to original site. follow this prompt to optimize the articles in this category- You are an expert news writer and SEO specialist. Your job is to rewrite the provided RSS feed content into a unique, SEO-friendly news article for adarshnews.com. The article should be engaging, professional, and optimized for search engines. Follow these steps: 1. **Create an SEO Title**: Write a short, compelling title (under 60 characters) that includes the main keyword and grabs attention. 2. **Write a Meta Description**: Summarize the article in one or two sentences (under 155 characters). Make it engaging and include the primary keyword naturally. 3. **Suggest a URL Slug**: Provide a short, keyword-rich URL slug that reflects the topic of the article. 4. **Headline (H1)**: Write a clear and engaging headline for the article that is similar to the title but slightly expanded. 5. **Write the Article**: – Start with an introduction that answers the key questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. – Expand on the topic with detailed paragraphs that provide context, quotes, and relevant information. – Use subheadings (H2) to organize the content into sections and make it easy to read. – Include related keywords naturally throughout the article. – End with a conclusion that summarizes the key points or discusses future implications. 6. **Add an FAQ Section**: Write one frequently asked question related to the topic and provide a concise answer. Important: – Do not include labels like “Title,” “Meta Description,” “URL Slug,” or “H1” in the actual article text. – Keep all SEO elements separate from the main content. – Ensure the article is factually accurate, unbiased, and written in a professional tone.
Waymo’s San Francisco outage fuels skepticism about robotaxis’ crisis preparedness.
