All articles tagged with #self driving
Zoox’s driverless taxi, which has no steering wheel and a train-car-like interior, has logged hundreds of thousands of rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco but is encountering real-world rider misbehavior—smoking, vomiting, and even sex—prompting engineers to redesign interiors with moisture- and odor-resistant materials for quicker cleanup as it expands to Austin and Miami, a challenge echoed across the robotaxi industry (e.g., Waymo).
A Texas man, Michael Butler, 44, is jailed on a manslaughter charge after his Tesla Model 3, reportedly in self-driving mode, crashed into a Katy home and killed a 76-year-old woman; investigators say Butler claimed use of the automation, while federal probes by the NTSB and NHTSA are examining whether the system contributed; Avila’s family has sued Tesla for gross negligence; Butler’s bail is $150,000 and a July 6 court date is planned.
Sen. Blumenthal and Sen. Markey urge the NHTSA to accelerate and broaden scrutiny of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology after a fatal Texas crash in which police say the driver used assisted driving before hitting a brick house. They criticize Tesla’s safety claims and data transparency, call for wider crash reporting and data disclosure, and note that NHTSA is investigating while the victim’s family has filed suit. The push follows ongoing federal probes into Tesla’s driver-assist systems and past safety concerns.
A Texas woman, Jennifer Barbour, is suing Tesla and a driver for at least $1 million after a Tesla Model 3 crashed into Barbour’s family home, killing her mother Martha Avila. The lawsuit alleges defective design and negligence in promoting self-driving technology, while the driver claims the autonomous feature was engaged. The crash is under police and NHTSA investigation, and regulators have recently scrutinized Tesla’s Autopilot amid broader safety concerns.
Amazon-backed Zoox unveiled a production-intent redesign of its toaster-shaped robotaxi, adding more comfortable seats, better interior features, and larger bidirectional reflectors for easier front/rear distinction as it moves toward a broader U.S. rollout and paid rides later this year; the company aims to scale production at its Bay Area hub to about 10,000 vehicles annually, while awaiting NHTSA approval for commercial operation of up to 2,500 vehicles, with pilots in select cities and a Uber partnership in Las Vegas.
Tesla pushes back on claims its Full Self-Driving system caused a fatal Katy, Texas crash, saying the driver manually overrode the automation by flooring the accelerator to 100% and reaching about 73 mph before the Model 3 crashed into a home, killing a 76-year-old woman. The driver, Michael Butler, has been identified; the NHTSA is investigating the crash and FSD as Tesla continues to pivot from Autopilot to a subscription-based FSD.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a Special Crash Investigation after a June crash near Houston where a Tesla Model 3, reportedly in automated driving mode, struck a house and killed a 76-year-old woman. Tesla and its executives dispute that Full Self-Driving was engaged; authorities say the driver used automated driving assistance and the vehicle sped at about 73 mph. The case adds to ongoing regulatory scrutiny of Tesla's self-driving technology.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a formal crash investigation into a June 19 Texas crash in which a Tesla Model 3 allegedly operating with an automated driving system sped into a house, injuring and killing a 76-year-old woman. The driver cooperated with police; investigators are examining whether the vehicle’s driver-assist tech contributed to the crash. The NHTSA inquiry is separate from local investigations and could lead to safety recalls or other actions, amid ongoing scrutiny of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving claims.
Residents along Los Angeles streets are pushing back against Waymo’s driverless-car testing, saying vehicles used for staging block driveways and curb space, worsen traffic, and raise safety concerns, prompting calls for limits and clearer rules for where autonomous cars can wait.
Tesla’s 2026.16.6 release brings FSD v14.3.3 to HW4 in Australia and New Zealand, featuring a ground-up MLIR-based AI compiler/runtime and upgraded RL training that yield roughly 20% faster reaction times, plus a stronger vision encoder, better lane handling, parking, and rare-object detection; adds new speed profiles (including SLOTH), robotaxi-style arrival options, and UI tweaks, with Brake Confirm off by default, all under supervised driving (not autonomous) and with several notes stating the updates are not applicable in the US.
Uber’s Lost and Found Index now includes items left in robotaxis from its growing autonomous-car partners (Waymo, Motional, Avride) as self-driving trips rise, though they still account for under 1% of rides. Riders leave both common items—phones, wallets, keys, glasses—and odd leftovers like a bowling ball, a unicorn Beanie Baby, dentures, and designer items. Returns are handled via in-app support with a $15 courier fee or pickup at a depot, under Uber’s Autonomous Solutions program. Uber aims to expand AV trips to about 15 cities globally and become the largest robotaxi broker by 2029, with occasional mishaps like a Waymo luggage incident later covered by Waymo.
Reuters interviews with nine former data labelers and a former self-driving engineer who say Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is unreliable and potentially unsafe, with seven insiders saying they wouldn’t ride in a FSD-equipped car; they report speeding and other edge-case issues, and point to on-road incidents that challenge Elon Musk’s claim of 'safe unsupervised' rides.
Waymo’s co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana says the burden of proving driverless ride safety lies with the company as Waymo expands to 10 U.S. cities, eyes international growth, and raises about $16 billion with a valuation near $126 billion.
Tesla’s 2026.2 update appears to include several undocumented changes: Autopilot is being renamed Self-Driving; the Maps screen now displays only region and version; 3D Supercharger site maps with live data expand to Europe; the ECU Update Status panel now includes non-CAN ECUs; a forthcoming 2026.8 update adds Comfort Braking for Model Y. The piece also showcases a series of milestone-based, uniquely designed Superchargers worldwide and ends with an opinion that Tesla is chasing short-term profits at the expense of loyalty, citing FSD transfer policy changes, price swings on the Cybertruck, and declining flagship-model updates and service-center quality.
A Hackaday Links roundup: RHIC is shut down to make way for the Electron-Ion Collider; Waymo discusses remote assistance for unresolved driving scenarios; Bitcoin dips below $63k before rebounding amid AI-driven uncertainty and political context; Windows 3D Viewer is deprecated with a slick web-based replacement; NASA reports Curiosity’s Martian organics not fully explained by non-biological processes; debates over low-Earth orbit satellite density highlight space’s vast scale; and Xikipedia offers a continuous Simple English Wikipedia feed.