Washington Post (January 29)
“Self-driving cars appear to be safer than those with human drivers.” We should welcome their introduction. For example, “Waymo robotaxis have logged 33 million miles, mostly ferrying passengers in San Francisco and Phoenix.” In those two cities, “compared with cars driven by humans, Waymo vehicles have been involved in 62 percent fewer police-reported crashes, 78 percent fewer crashes that resulted in injury and 81 percent fewer crashes severe enough to deploy the air bags.” Moreover, the reality is probably even better as some of these accidents were caused by other drivers.
Tags: Accidents, Air bags, Crashes, Human drivers, Injury, Passengers, Phoenix, Police, Robotaxis, Safer, San Francisco, Self-driving cars, Waymo
USA Today (May 22)
“Had Takata and NHTSA moved more quickly, they would have prevented deaths and injuries.” Finally in full motion, the biggest auto safety recall in U.S. history, involving 34 million Takata air bags, will still “take years—yes, years—before all the defective air bags are replaced.”
USA Today (November 9)
Instead of urgent action to remove defective air bags from vehicles, “air bag maker Takata and its biggest customer, Honda, conducted glacial, piecemeal recalls that have left drivers in jeopardy.” Why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hasn’t done more remains a mystery, though it’s clear why the other parties have dallied. “The problem might pose an existential threat” for Takata. “And for Honda, finding and replacing the faulty air bags—installed in many models for many years—imposes a massive cost.”
