Robotaxi Without Drivers Investigated After Almost Hurting School Children

JAKARTA The United States Highway Safety Commission (NHTSA) is investigating about 2,000 units of Waymo's robotaxi after one of its autonomous vehicles was caught violating traffic rules. Where, maneuvering in front of a bus school that is stopped, with the children around.

The incident occurred in the state of Georgia, as robotactaksi Waymo approached the bus school that had stopped and the red light turned on, and issued a "Stop" sign. The vehicle continued to drive past the bus from the opposite side.

Luckily, no children were crossing or injured victims in the incident. According to Waymo's official statement, the car is fully operated by a fifth-generation automated driving system without a human driver in it.

The company said that the vehicle kept a safe distance from children and the incident was caused by the position of the bus which made the lights and stop signs not clearly visible by vehicle sensors.

"Security is our top priority. We have updated to ensure our vehicles can recognize and respond better to the situation around the school bus," Waymo representatives said in an official statement. , quoted from Carscoops, Wednesday, October 22.

Waymo also confirmed that it has implemented software fixes to improve detection of school buses and will be rolling out additional updates in the near future.

This case is in the big spotlight because it raises questions about the extent to which an autonomous vehicle system is able to understand the social context on the highway. Especially when dealing with situations involving children or priority vehicles.

NHTSA is now focusing on exploring how Waymo's hardware and software systems handle traffic situations around school buses, as well as whether the autonomous vehicles comply with traffic regulations in force in the United States.