Waymo Driver

Transparency and accountability 🙈

 Waymo's autonomous driving technology is seen to suffer from several transparency and accountability limitations:

• Black box. Waymo considers much of its technology as trade secrets, limiting public access to and understanding of its systems.

• Algorithmic decision-making. The intricacies of Waymo's autonomous decision-making algorithms are not fully transparent to the public, making it difficult to assess their safety and reliability in various scenarios.

• Safety data. Waymo has taken legal action to prevent the release of detailed safety records and incident reports.

• Incident reporting. California regulators do not require Waymo to disclose every incident involving erratic behavior in its fleet, with many minor incidents or near-misses going unreported. Waymo has sought to keep hidden information on how it handles emergencies, unexpected vehicle behaviour, and navigational constraints.

Risks and harms 🛑

• Property damage. Waymo Driver is vulnerable to software errors or technology failures that could lead to accidents, potentially damaging property. 

• Bodily injury, loss of life. Accidents involving Waymo Drivber may result in bodily injury and/or loss of life. 

• Security. Security poses a risk, as hackers could potentially control Waymo systems or steal personal information.

• Human error. Drivers may become over-reliant on the technology and pay less attention to the road, resulting in accidents. There is also the risk of forgetting basic driving skills, which could be problematic if manual intervention is required.

• Environment. The system has been known to disturb the lives of people living in areas in which Waymo robotaxis operate.

• Liability. There are concerns about who would be liable in the event of an accident involving a Waymo autonomous vehicle, and how the company's insurance policies would cover damages.

• Employment. The widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles could lead to job displacement for human drivers, particularly in industries such as trucking and taxi services.

Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️

• NHTSA. Information Request ID PE24016-1 (pdf)

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Search Google Scholar

Investigations, assessments, audits 👁️

• NHTSA. WAYMO 5TH GENERATION ADS