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Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

(techcrunch.com)
277 points nharada | 7 comments | 12 Nov 25 16:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.89s | source | bottom
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mmmlinux ◴[12 Nov 25 17:06 UTC] No.45902647[source]▶
I was in SF a few weekend ago and rode both Waymo and normal Lyft style taxi cars. the Waymo was a better experience in every single way. One of the Lyfts i was in drove on the shoulder for a while like it was a lane. The Waymos were just smooth consistent driving. No aggressive driving to get you dumped off so they can get to the next fair.
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1. proee ◴[12 Nov 25 20:02 UTC] No.45905613[source]▶
So it might come down to how many "9s" you're comfortable with. The experience is really good 99.999% of the time until it's not, and that "not" could be catastrophic. I suppose the data engineers are quite confident in the 9s.
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2. timerol ◴[12 Nov 25 20:11 UTC] No.45905772[source]▶
This also applies to getting in a car with a human driver, or to driving yourself. Or to any other way of getting from point A to point B
3. AceJohnny2 ◴[12 Nov 25 20:14 UTC] No.45905820[source]▶
> and that "not" could be catastrophic

Any different than with a human taxi driver?

It's not about absolute reliability, it's about how well it compares to the alternative, which is human taxi drivers. And the thing is, you don't hear about human car accidents because it's so common that it's not worth making the news.

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4. AceJohnny2 ◴[12 Nov 25 20:15 UTC] No.45905843[source]▶
> you don't hear about human car accidents because it's so common that it's not worth making the news.

Another very interesting thing about robotaxis is agency and blame. Taxi driver had an accident? Just that driver is suspect. Robotaxi had an accident? They're all suspect.

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5. cheschire ◴[12 Nov 25 20:23 UTC] No.45905977[source]▶
Lyft is 99.99999% with 1.02 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled[0].

Waymo is 100% with zero fatalities.

But then again, the Concorde was the safest airplane ever built for nearly 30 years, until its first crash and then it was the most dangerous passenger jet ever with 12.5 fatal events per million flights.[1]

Lies, damned lies, and statistics.[2]

0: https://assets.ctfassets.net/vz6nkkbc6q75/3yrO0aP4mPfTTvyaUZ...

1: https://www.airsafe.com/journal/issue14.htm

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statist...

6. jsbg ◴[12 Nov 25 20:34 UTC] No.45906200[source]▶
How many 9s does lyft guarantee?
7. hn8726 ◴[12 Nov 25 22:57 UTC] No.45908080{3}[source]▶
I mean it does make sense though - robo taxis (of one company) are much more homogeneous than any two human drivers could ever be.