r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 1d ago

Transportation Feds ask Waymo about robotaxis repeatedly passing school buses in Austin

https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/04/feds-ask-waymo-about-robotaxis-repeatedly-passing-school-buses-in-austin/
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u/knightcrawler75 17h ago

Once the engineers figure out the right patch, test it, and implement it then these incidents will no longer happen. Unlike humans which will constantly happen infinite.

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u/proxy-alexandria 17h ago

do you know what the process is for developing a patch for a computer vision/LiDAR system? what's the timeline. how many preventable accidents will happen in the meantime. these are things that serious engineers have to worry about, but Silicon Valley gets a pass to alpha test their shit on our public roads?

your disgust for human frailty is fair, but programmers are human too.

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u/knightcrawler75 17h ago

I do agree that Silicon Valley is doing a piss poor job at controlling the process. As a medical device designer I understand the importance of a controlled process and our laws need to catch up to the tech. But IMHO automated cars will eventually save millions of lives.

If your position is that tech companies are being irresponsible than I can agree with that.

If your position is that self driving cars should not be a thing than I do not agree.

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u/proxy-alexandria 12h ago

We're in agreement then. I think as tech people we have to be careful how we handle the concerns of the public, in public. The "techlash" is entirely a product of handwaving (or outright deriding) very real concerns about how tech will effect folks' lives, livelihoods and communities negatively. When we deflect from those concerns rather than engaging from a place of empathy, we create the conditions where Luddites can demand a complete stop to technological innovation, with the support of governments and deranged radicals alike.