12 News
4 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2024–2025
1:53 · 19K views · May 22, 2024
A short local news report about a Waymo self-driving car that crashed into a pole in downtown Phoenix.
HN cites it as evidence that robotaxis can still have odd, avoidable crashes, usually in threads that criticize self-driving safety claims.
4 comments from Hacker News
Waymo hits pole (this one is from 2024, could've sworn I saw one in the last few weeks but may have misremembered): this video Waymos crash into each other: [LINK] Waymo cutting off bus at left turn: [LINK] Waymo doing... something... no clue how a pre-mapped car thinks this is ok: [LINK] Waymo sideswipes firetruck with its lights on: [LINK] --- Crashes happen. Tesla is currently having a rash of them but Waymo isn't immune to "wtf how" kinds of crashes even with all of its built-in advantages (far more sensors and having pre-mapping).
Waymo is currently under investigation for multiple incidents, not all of which it had previously disclosed to the NHTSA [0]. The recent light pole incident also doesn't help [1]. If they are doing 50k rides a day, then they would appear to have a remarkable safety record. It will be interesting to see if these investigations lead to a repeat of the Cruise debacle or if this will become the price of doing business. [0] [LINK] [1] this video
Meanwhile Waymo just yesterday went the wrong way on the street. [LINK] Waymo hits stationary pole. this video If Waymo is as good as you claim, then why don't they release data on the number of manual interventions> It's just the Waymo's missteps are unlikely to show up on HN unlike Tesla's. FSD can navigate crowds too.
The incident where a Waymo vehicle ran into a pole ( this video ) is one of the most head scratching to me, but overall amazingly safe for operating 50,000 paid rides per week.