Weekly News: Quick Fixes Aren't Working for AVs
As we wrap up Season One of “Phil & Junko on AV Safety,” we’re starting to feel like the dog that caught the robotaxi.
Reality, about which we’ve been barking, is affecting Waymo, which last week issued yet another recall, this time after its robotaxis developed a habit of speeding into freeway construction zones.
Tesla, meanwhile, had another fatal wreck. With the driver allegedly using Autopilot, the vehicle crashed into a Texas home Friday and killed a person inside. The accident is under federal investigation.
First, on recalls.
Waymo’s repeated approach to recalls is wearing thin, with each recall having followed an initial quick fix that failed.
The latest recall took place after more than a dozen similar highway mishaps. In one high-profile incident, covered by the media, the Waymo sped through a construction zone. Chased by police, the robotaxi veered off the highway into a residential neighborhood.
For people assured by Waymo that AVs drive smarter than humans, these scenes can come as a shock. The associated multiple federal safety recalls underline the persistent challenges faced by autonomous systems.
Less evident but just as important is that this is “the third attempt for Waymo to do a quick fix that ultimately resulted in further incidents and eventual recalls,” as Phil wrote in his piece, “A Third Strike for Waymo on Failed Quick Fixes”
Two previous issues were robotaxis entering flooded roads at speed, and barreling past stopped school buses with stop sign/lights activated.
Waymo took more than two months before issuing this latest recall, after which it acknowledged in its recall report that it had identified no remedy yet.
With every recall, Waymo spins a positive story in response to media inquiries. “We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements, proactively notified state and federal regulators, and decided to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA.”
Maybe Waymo is waiting for the public to eventually get used to repeated robotaxi recalls. When mishaps happen, it has, almost robotically, claimed that it has a solution, only to concede further problems, eventually ending in a recall. This doesn’t seem an ideal strategy for building public trust.
Second, on the Tesla investigations.
Details of Tesla’s alleged Autopilot crash are still pending. But NHTSA’s investigation is a significant development. Our previous coverage of Level 2+ safety issues will be relevant to understanding further information on that crash as it becomes available.
Phil & Junko on AV Safety concludes our Season One with our piece, “Five Rules of the Road for Automated Vehicle Success,”
Season Two starts in early September.
During the summer, as we both continue to post on our individual Substacks, we’ll keep an eye on every crucial development in AV safety.
Look for Phil at “Autonomous System Safety by Phil Koopman” and for Junko at “Junko’s Tech Probe.” You might also see an occasional post here if events warrant.
This week’s story:
Given the aggressive expansion of robotaxi operations in recent months, it feels as though AV safety is already a solved problem.
But is it?
We reviewed our discussions in Season One of Phil & Junko on AV Safety series. in our concluding story, we offer five rules that could help their AVs get safer and socially acceptable.
Rule One: Have a broad definition of how safe is safe enough.
Rule Two: Earn trust through transparent actions, not platitudes.
Rule Three: Have a clear and transparent division of roles between the computer driver and people.
Rule Four: Have a realistic plan for handling safety-critical ‘edge cases.’
Rule Five: Respect the limitations of both people and machines.
Read on to find out how we have come to stipulate each rule, backed up with our observations and discussions in our essays and video podcasts.
This week’s pointers of note:
Phil has a new story: What’s the Deal with Edge Cases and Autonomous vehicles?, stressing a salient point, “edge cases are never going away.”
Phil follows up on Waymo’s taxi construction zone news story with his own analysis: A Third Strike for Waymo on Failed Quick Fixes.
Junko has a new story: Calibration Drift: Physical AI’s Silent Bottleneck, discussing the impact of calibration drift on highly automated vehicles, robotic systems and automated manufacturing processes.
Ars Technica reports: NHTSA investigating alleged Tesla Autopilot crash that killed woman in her home
Waymo’s latest recall report filed to NHTSA is here: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2026/RCLRPT-26E035-7637.pdf
Phil posted an 11-minute video interview on embodied AI safety associated with his keynote talk on that topic at the Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo in Stuttgart.
You cannot fix a thing that broken by design)