Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica

Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by kakacik on Thursday January 29, 2026 @12:54PM (#46813721)

Yes and no. Tons of situations where this is simply not possible, whole traffic goes full allowed speed next to row of parked cars. If somebody unexpectedly pops up distracted, its a tragedy guaranteed regardless of driver's skills and experience.

In low traffic of course it can be different. But its unrealistic to expect anybody to drive in expectation that behind every single car passed there may be a child jumping right in front of the car. That can be easily thousands of cars, every day, whole life. Impossible.

We don't read about 99.9% of the cases where even semi decent driver can handle it safely, but rare cases make the news.

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by jsrozner on Thursday January 29, 2026 @01:21PM (#46814176)

I slow down considerably near parked cars. And I try to slow down much earlier approaching intersections where there are parked cars blocking my view of cross walk entries. I need to be able to come to full stop earlier than intersection if there happens to be a pedestrian there.

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by JKCalhoun on Thursday January 29, 2026 @12:55PM (#46813759)

I kind of drive that way. I slow down, move as far away in my lane from the parked cars as possible. It's certainly what I would expect from a machine that would claim to be as good as the best human driver.

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by jobs_throwaway on Thursday January 29, 2026 @02:19PM (#46815120)

> a machine that would claim to be as good as the best human driver.

Does Waymo claim that? If so I haven't seen it. That should of course be the goal, but "better than the average human driver" should be the bar.

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by JKCalhoun on Thursday January 29, 2026 @04:25PM (#46816832)

If they don't clim that, why would I be interested in their tech?

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by jobs_throwaway on Thursday January 29, 2026 @08:02PM (#46819297)

Because we can reduce crashes and fatalities without Waymo being Max Verstappen

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by aembleton on Thursday January 29, 2026 @06:47PM (#46818577)

Because I'm only an average driver. Definitely not the best and have done no advanced driver training.

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by Aloisius on Thursday January 29, 2026 @05:25PM (#46817656)

Because replacing average drivers with a better than average one would save lives.

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by JKCalhoun on Thursday January 29, 2026 @09:01PM (#46819713)

Ha ha, you should suggest that to them: "Waymo: better than average driving!"

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Re:Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in ... by shawnz on Thursday January 29, 2026 @10:51PM (#46820340)

What's the joke here? If they are better than average drivers, that's a huge win which improves road safety for everyone

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