Traffic Safety Expert Amy Witherite of Witherite Law Group: “Is No Longer a Lone Voice” as New Study, San Francisco’s Mayor, and Federal Regulators All Raise Alarm Over Waymo Robotaxi Safety
Three separate developments this month have intensified scrutiny of Waymo’s robotaxi fleet even as the company pushes to expand into new cities, including New York and attorney Amy Witherite, founding attorney of Witherite Law Group and a national voice on autonomous vehicle accountability, says the mounting evidence confirms what she has been warning about for months.
“I no longer feel like a lone voice in expressing these concerns,” said Witherite. “An independent academic study, a big-city mayor who once championed this technology, and now federal safety regulators are all saying the same thing I’ve been saying: these vehicles are not ready, and the public is paying the price.”
New Study Finds No Safety Advantage Over Professional Drivers
A new report from the Sam Schwartz Transportation Research Program at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and Open Plans compared Waymo’s nationwide safety data to New York City’s for-hire vehicle fleet of taxis and rideshare drivers. The study found Waymo vehicles nationwide are involved in serious-injury-or-fatality crashes at 1.5 times the rate of New York City’s professional for-hire drivers — and more than three times that rate in the San Francisco Bay Area. Researchers concluded Waymo has not yet driven enough miles to demonstrate it is safer than the professional drivers it aims to replace, and found that robotaxis would add, not reduce, vehicle miles traveled and congestion if deployed in New York. Read the report.
