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A U.S. congressperson is stepping in to regulate robotaxis after a string of San Francisco traffic fiascos in which Waymos have stalled, lost battery and required physical tows, most infamously during the widely-documented Fourth of July car-pocalypse. Mayor Daniel Lurie joined Rep. Kevin Mullin on the steps of Fire Station 4 in Mission Bay on Tuesday as he proposed new federal standards that would — on paper — keep robotaxis like Waymo from blocking emergency first responders, driving through active crime scenes, or backing up intersections. Lurie welcomed Waymo onto car-free Market Street in 2025, and San Francisco International Airport gave approval for the company to take passengers to and from the airport. Yet despite his high profile, and previous support for what he called “safe, reliable, and modern transportation options,” the mayor has little authority to regulate the standards for autonomous vehicles operating statewide. That power rests with the California Public Utilities Commission and Department of Motor Vehicles, who have not publicly responded to Lurie’s calls for tighter regulation nor Mullin’s legislation after being contacted by Mission Local. But with today’s announcement, it’s clear that federal lawmakers aren’t waiting for those agencies to act. If approved, Mullin’s “AV Emergency Response Coordination Act” would establish “uniform safety standards” nationally, requiring robotaxis to share the road with police officers, firefighters and paramedics. Mullin and other officials cited a list of traffic incidents in cities such as Austin, where a Waymo vehicle blocked authorities trying to respond to a mass shooting. The bill, according to Mullin, would establish a 24/7 hotline for public officials to communicate directly with autonomous vehicle companies. It would also, he said, create a process for local public officials to issue requests for robotaxis to avoid certain areas during emergencies using geofencing. The bill would apply to all
Today Congressman Kevin Mullin announced the Autonomous Vehicle Emergency Response Coordination Act outside of San Francisco Fire Station 4. Rep. Mullins’ bill would require driverless-car companies to coordinate with first responders during emergencies. "It would establish a 24/7 hotline for public officials to communicate directly with AV companies in real time, in the moment," Rep. Mullin explained. "And create a process so that local public officials can issue requests for AVs to avoid certain areas during an emergency. We call it geofencing." Rep. Mullin’s proposal comes after a series of mishaps involving autonomous vehicles, or AVs. In December last year, a citywide power outage stalled Waymos across San Francisco, creating hours of traffic congestion for residents. And on the 4th of July, dozens of Waymos created an hours-long traffic jam in the Presidio. One drove passengers over a lit firework, while several others had to be towed. San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispin says AVs commonly disrupt emergency services: "These interferences frequently require direct interaction between SFFD personnel and the autonomous vehicle, diverting firefighters and paramedics away from critical emergency response duties in such situations as safety personnel." Despite the Lurie Administration’s support of the AV industry, the Mayor was also there in support of the legislation. "We have served as the birthplace of rideshare services and now autonomous vehicles," Mayor Lurie said. "And each of those innovations evolved over time to meet the needs of a dynamic city. Now it is time for autonomous vehicles to do the same." The Lurie administration has historically supported the expansion of driverless vehicles in San Francisco. Last year, Mayor Lurie allowed Waymos to start driving on Market St., and supported pilot programs at both the San Francisco and Oakland airports. Rep. Mullin's bill is expected to be introduced to the House of
‘Waymo’ Coordination Needed: Bill Aims to Address Autonomous Vehicle Mishaps Following a string of Waymo-fueled traffic meltdowns in the Bay Area, a new federal bill aims to improve coordination between autonomous vehicle companies and emergency responders. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, announced Tuesday that his proposed legislation will target autonomous vehicles’ ability to navigate emergency situations spurred by unexpected power outages and other unusual traffic conditions. “The technology is remarkable in normal conditions; what I’m concerned about is abnormal conditions,” Mullin said. “These vehicles not only need to evolve their technology to deal with that, but they need to be in direct coordination with our local public safety officials whose job it is to respond appropriately.” Waymo has created a number of headaches for emergency responders in San Francisco — most notably by causing a “traffic meltdown” during the city’s Fourth of July celebrations and grinding to a halt during the city’s December power outages. These events prompted Mayor Daniel Lurie to send a letter to the state Secretary of Transportation, asking for new standards for autonomous vehicles, including proof that they are ready for large crowds and unusual traffic patterns. The bill, titled the AV Emergency Response Coordination Act, calls for companies to provide response plans for emergency personnel — and to establish a 24/7 hotline for public officials, according to Mullin’s press release. If passed, public officials would have a process to geofence areas during emergencies, so that driverless vehicles avoid certain areas while there is an ongoing safety hazard. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would also be tasked to develop national emergency standards for autonomous vehicle companies. At Mullin’s conference on Tuesday, Lurie voiced his support for both the legislation as well as autonomous vehicles in San Francisco. “San Francisco wants AVs on our streets, and
Turning around an underperforming store takes more than fresh advertising. It means fixing culture, tightening processes, and having financial discipline. That’s the challenge Scott Simons, Owner of Simons Automotive Group, took on when he bought Simons Chevrolet GMC, then an underperforming store, in the small town of Whiteville, North Carolina, last year. Simons joins host Adam Marburger on today’s episode of Training Camp for a closer look at how he took the store from 24 units a month to 103, growing gross profit 115% year over year while holding expenses to a 4% increase, and pushing customer satisfaction to 280% of the dealer’s objective. Fixing the culture When Simons first took over, he mentioned how he retained the majority of the staff. Every employee got a chance to stay, and before making any changes, Simons sat down with each person individually to learn about their families, their goals and how long they’d been in the business. Once he understood the team, he laid out the plan. Initially, the store had been selling 24 units a month, a number he told staff they could grow and eventually surpass 100 vehicles for the first time in the store’s history. "In this town, this Chevrolet store has never sold 100 vehicles; well, we just sold 103 vehicles." He implemented a new sales standard gradually, beginning with employees selling one car every other day, which amounted to around 11 vehicles over a 22-day month. He then aimed to increase this to a rate of one car sold for each day worked. Despite the changes, some staff chose not to remain during the transition. But to strengthen the new leadership team, Simons brought in a general sales manager he had collaborated with for 25 years, along with a finance manager. Fixing the infrastructure With culture
Uber shares drop 20% despite strong Q1 and major Delivery Hero acquisition. Uber Technologies' stock fell 20% even after reporting strong first-quarter results and announcing a €12.7 billion acquisition of Delivery Hero, which will create a global duopoly with DoorDash in food delivery. The company is also advancing its auto...
Waymo and other robotaxi operators are facing increased scrutiny — and possible new federal requirements — over how their autonomous vehicles interact with emergency responders, a regulatory risk that’s becoming harder for the industry to shrug off. Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.) is the latest lawmaker to put pressure on the industry with a proposed bill that would direct federal regulators to establish minimum national safety standards for autonomous vehicle operators. The proposed legislation, expected to be introduced in Congress this week, follows a number of incidents in which autonomous vehicles have blocked ambulances and fire trucks, driven into active crime scenes, and failed to recognize safety signals such as traffic cones and flares. A TechCrunch investigation earlier this year identified a number of incidents in which Waymo relied on first responders to manually drive its vehicles when they encountered issues. The legislation, called the AV Emergency Response Coordination Act, was unveiled Tuesday during a press conference in San Francisco, a hub of autonomous vehicle testing and where hundreds of Waymo robotaxis already give rides to paying customers. San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie, San Francisco fire chief Dean Crispen, and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety president Cathy Chase also spoke at the press conference. “We have seen disturbing, and frankly, an unacceptable number of incidents where autonomous vehicles inadvertently interfere with emergency responders,” Mullin said during the press conference. Crispen said that while the fire department has worked with AV operators, a number of incidents, and a pattern of continued behavior, shows changes need to be made. He noted that robotaxis are picking up and dropping off passengers directly in front of fire stations and ambulance deployment facilities, which obstructs emergency access. Mullin’s bill proposes requiring AV companies to provide clear emergency protocols for first responders, establish a 24-hour hotline
As more Waymos and other autonomous vehicles hit the road, a Bay Area congressman and the mayor of San Francisco are calling for new national safety standards. Congressman Kevin Mullin, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, the city's fire chief, and advocates for highway and auto safety gathered in San Francisco on Tuesday to urge the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish uniform safety standards across state lines. Watch NBC Bay Area News free wherever you are The group said there is growing evidence that autonomous vehicles (AVs) are creating dangerous situations and interfering with first responders during power outages and other emergencies. On the night of July Fourth, a line of immobilized Waymos in San Francisco caused even more traffic congestion and confusion during an already jam-packed event. One Waymo even drove through fireworks. "The unusually heavy traffic created navigation challenges and some AVs blocked intersections," Lurie said. Mullin said incidents involving AVs happening across the country should help attract bipartisan support for his new legislation. Local "It has been challenging with this Republican majority for Democratic bills to move," he said. "There's a certain reality there, but this one, we've had fruitful conversations on the AV front because it really isn't viewed in a partisan context." The proposed AV Emergency Response Coordination Act would impose some baseline safety standards and protocols, especially in emergencies. A lot of the protocols are already used by the San Francisco police and fire departments, but there are new potential issues with new driverless vehicles operated by Zoox. The company's new model doesn't have a steering wheel, so the fire department is considering new strategies. "If there's a major incident, earthquake, we can use our fire engines, trucks, rescue squads to push it out of the way," San Francisco Fire Department Chief Dean
The future of travel has arrived, or so we are told. Driverless taxis are reported to begin operating on UK roads before the year is out. You may have even seen one of them on the road today. British startup Wayve Technologies has begun test runs ahead of government-backed robotaxi trials launching this year, with London set to become the UK’s test ground for autonomous vehicles. Global players, including U.S. company Waymo and China’s Baidu, also plan to take part with September launches publicised. Steve Birdsall, CEO, Gaist, discusses whether the UK’s roads are ready for autonomous vehicles It’s an exciting glimpse into the future. But, as it stands now, Britain’s roads aren’t ready for this revolution. Indeed, the data from these high-profile trials in London may be favourable, but it will paint a misleading picture of national readiness. The reason for this? London is a highly controlled and heavily resourced environment. So while the results might be positive for London and the deployments might well be highly successful, the reality for other parts of the country is far more complex. A well marked city street is very different from an overgrown country lane. Addressing this gap needs more than the current trials can offer. More than testing in controlled environments, the future viability of autonomous vehicles across the UK will depend on having a far clearer, more consistent understanding of road conditions across the entire network. London vs the wider UK: a gap in readiness With the UK’s roadmap for autonomous vehicles extending beyond just the capital, The Automated Vehicles Act of 2024 has established an ambitious framework for deploying self-driving vehicles across the country, with full autonomy within the next decade. However, while ambition is national, readiness is not. Beyond the capital, the challenge becomes significantly more complex.
Forget rideshare. How seniors are using Tesla FSD for transportation. Oakland County ― Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi rideshare service to include Florida, Texas, and California as it competes with Alphabet’s Waymo, Amazon’s Zoox, and other autonomous rideshare services. But consumers are already buying retail Teslas to self-drive them in cities across the US. Senior citizens most notably. Determined to maintain their individual transportation independence, they are using Tesla’s hands-free Full Self Driving system as a driver assist. Though by no means exclusive to seniors in its ability to add another set of eyes to the road, FSD helps elderly drivers maintain a cocoon around their car as their confidence in reflexes and eyesight naturally deteriorate. “It's as good a driver as I am,” said Dick Amacher, 78, a retired General Motors engineer from Rochester Hills who drives his Model Y and Model 3 on FSD 98% of the time. “Here's the thing, it will not go through a red light. It will not go through a stop sign. Every once in a while, I've driven through neighborhoods where stop signs were partially obscured by low hanging branches, for example. . . and (the Tesla) sees them before I do.” Alphabet founder Sergei Brin launched Google’s autonomous car program (now called Waymo) in 2014 with the idea of giving seniors independence. Now, as Waymo and Tesla duke it out in a high-capital-cost, high-stakes race to dominate the ride-share space, that sci-fi vision ― shared by Tesla CEO Elon Musk ― is fast becoming reality with Tesla’s version 14.3 FSD software. FSD has made enormous strides in the last two years thanks to millions of miles of real-world customer use and Artificial Intelligence advancement. “Tesla self-driving enables safer mobility for senior citizens,” posted Musk on X July 11 in response to
DroneShield secures $12.5M autonomous vehicle contract · DroneShield executed an agreement to integrate its anti-drone systems onto unmanned ground vehicles. · The company secured a $12.5–$13 million contract, driving a 4.2% increase in its share price. · Management stated this integration expands its defence offerings into mobile, cross-domain operational environments. DroneShield (ASX:DRO) executed a $12.5–$13 million agreement to integrate its DroneSentry systems onto unmanned ground vehicles. This deployment contrasts with the previous year when the firm's technology was restricted to fixed-site installations. "We are ensuring these platforms operate with full-spectrum awareness," said DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik. The company stated this project requires $1.2–$1.5 million in testing and will conclude by November 2026. Following the announcement, the DroneShield share price was up at $1.88. Executives stated this contract supports their corporate strategy to expand artificial intelligence applications across 40 international markets.
A new study suggests driverless cars like Waymo may have a safety edge over people behind the wheel, but what is the data actually showing? Waymos make headlines pretty often these days — usually when they shut down in traffic during storms or power outages. But now, a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is drawing attention to something else: Waymo’s driverless vehicles may actually crash far less often than human drivers. Stream NBC 5 for free, 24/7, wherever you are. The study by the independent nonprofit examines crash data for four of the U.S. cities where Waymos have been on the road for several years, including San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin. Looking only at crashes that would typically be reported to police, researchers analyzed Waymo's first 50 million miles of fully autonomous driving and found its crash rate was 68 percent lower than that of human drivers. For comparison, human drivers logged about 200 billion miles in those same areas during the study period. But researchers admit the data isn’t perfect. Gaps in federal crash-tracking data and different reporting requirements make it difficult to fully measure how self-driving vehicles stack up against human drivers. One key limitation is that the federal crash-reporting system for automated vehicles does not consistently collect data on miles driven, making it harder to compare crash rates across vehicle types. So when can you hail a ride in a Waymo in Chicago? A Waymo spokesperson told NBC 5 Responds the framework for their operations in Illinois is still in the works. A bill that would’ve cleared the way for driverless taxis to operate in Illinois has stalled in the legislature.
The Nasdaq-100 index is made up of the 100 most valuable companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, excluding banks and financial institutions. It's often used as a barometer for the performance of the technology sector, which accounts for over half its total value. The Nasdaq-100 is currently down 8% from its recent peak, and if the decline extends to 20%, it will constitute a technical bear market. The index last traded in bear territory during 2022 and 2023, which sent shares of Tesla (TSLA -1.43%) tumbling by 75% to just $100. The electric vehicle (EV) giant is at a disadvantage yet again, after reporting a disappointing set of operating results for the second quarter of 2026. Tesla stock traded as high as $498 last year, but it has since declined to $310 as I write this. Here's why I predict it will revisit $100 if the Nasdaq-100 enters another bear market. The EV business is slowly recovering Tesla is coming off two straight annual declines in its EV sales, but the tide appears to be turning in 2026. The company delivered 358,023 cars during the first quarter of 2026, which was up 6% from the year-ago period. That growth rate accelerated to 25% in Q2 with 480,126 deliveries. EV sales still account for over 70% of Tesla's total revenue, so growth in this part of the business is critical to the company's overall financial performance. Unfortunately, the average selling price of each vehicle declined during Q2, resulting in a lower gross profit margin and an 18% decline in adjusted earnings per share. It appears Tesla is cutting prices for its EV lineup to attract buyers, which is great for sales but bad for the bottom line. However, price cuts might be necessary for Tesla to remain competitive with its
2 hurt after Waymo driverless car catches fire in Atlanta ATLANTA - Two people were hurt Sunday night in a fiery crash involving a driverless Waymo car on Cheshire Bridge Road in Northeast Atlanta. Firefighters said it appeared a Jeep crashed into the back of the autonomous car, sparking the intense fire. What we know: Firefighters responded to Cheshire Bridge Road near the intersection of Manchester Street on Sunday night after a Jeep collided with an unoccupied Waymo driverless car. Data from Waymo shows the autonomous vehicle was turning left off Cheshire Bridge Road when the other car rammed it from behind at 33 miles per hour. The impact triggered a rapidly growing fire in the back of the Waymo. "The crews quickly extinguished the fire, secured the scene and evaluated two patients," Capt. Andrew Anderson of Atlanta Fire Rescue said. By the numbers: Firefighters said one of the Jeep's occupants suffered burns and the other had complaints of a shoulder injury. No passengers were inside the Waymo at the time of the collision, the company said. What they're saying: Firefighters treat crashes involving electric vehicles with high caution due to high-voltage battery risks. "We treat these incidents carefully, recognizing that damaged batteries and energized electrical components require specialized awareness," Anderson said. A Waymo spokesperson praised the quick response of firefighters. The backstory: Waymo vehicles feature automated safety features built to activate during accidents. Anderson explained, "when the airbags get deployed, they're automatically going to pull over and park. They're not going to be mobile anymore. It's designed to stop and notify Waymo's fleet response center." Anderson advised drivers on what to do if involved in a crash near an autonomous vehicle. "If you're about to any collision, we just want you to remain calm," the fire captain said. "If
Los Angeles Police Department traffic investigators on Monday were looking into the circumstances surrounding an injury collision involving a Waymo autonomous vehicle in the city’s Pico-Union district. The two-vehicle collision was reported about 5:45 a.m. Sunday on the 1000 block of Venice Boulevard near South Union Avenue, just west of the Los Angeles Convention Center, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The Waymo car collided with a blue sedan occupied by a man, a woman and an infant, none of whom were seriously injured, according to a videographer at the scene who reported all three were treated and released at the scene. Amid conflicting accounts, the LAPD reported that one person inside the Waymo was critically injured and was taken to a hospital. However, the videographer reported that a female in a wheelchair — possibly not in either vehicle — was hospitalized in critical condition, and a passenger from the Waymo was transported to a hospital in stable condition. “A Waymo vehicle was traveling eastbound at approximately 27 miles per hour on Venice Boulevard between South Union Avenue and Toberman Street when it was hit by a blue sedan,” the spokesperson told KTLA. “The blue sedan was traveling in the opposite direction at approximately 47 to 50 miles per hour [and] made contact with a pedestrian with a cart outside of a crosswalk at approximately 42 miles per hour before swerving into the opposite lane and striking the Waymo vehicle.” This is a breaking news story. Check back here for updates.
Tesla has quietly updated its unsupervised Model Y Robotaxis to remove the turn signal and hazard light sounds — a small but telling change that riders in the Austin fleet will notice immediately. Multiple observers flagged the update on July 27, and the reasoning behind it says more about Tesla's autonomous strategy than the tweak itself might suggest. 1. What Actually Changed Tesla removed both the turn signal click and the hazard light sound from its Robotaxi fleet vehicles. These are the audible ticking sounds that, in a human-driven car, serve as a confirmation cue for the driver that the blinker is active. In an unsupervised autonomous vehicle with no driver to inform, that cue has no functional purpose — it's a holdover from a design built around human operation. The change applies specifically to the unsupervised Robotaxi configuration of the Model Y, not to standard consumer vehicles. 2. Why It Took This Long The Robotaxi service launched with the same base software stack as a consumer Model Y, blinker sounds included. Stripping out features that exist for driver feedback — rather than passenger experience or safety — takes deliberate engineering prioritization. As Sawyer Merritt noted, leaving the turn signal sound on during unsupervised operation "didn't really make much sense," but these kinds of refinements tend to come after the core autonomous functionality is proven stable. The fleet is now mature enough that Tesla is iterating on the in-cabin experience layer. 3. The Vertical Integration Angle Whole Mars Catalog framed this as a direct benefit of Tesla owning the entire product stack — hardware, software, and the fleet itself. Most automakers licensing autonomous technology from third parties would face contractual, regulatory, or technical friction to make a change like this. Tesla can push a software update to its own fleet
New York’s public transit advocacy community has launched a new attack against robotaxis. A recently published report from Open Plans and the Sam Schwartz Transportation Program leads with an alarming claim: Waymo vehicles, they assert, “have a significantly higher rate of crashes with a serious injury or fatality than the existing New York City for-hire fleet.” The full report largely concedes the point that robotaxis are safer than the typical human driver (an earlier point of debate) and instead focuses on the comparison with for-hire services like Uber, Lyft, and yellow taxis. Concern about the impact on jobs in this sector is the main reason that autonomous vehicles remain illegal in New York. (Waymo’s limited testing permit lapsed in March.) Finally, a reason to check your email. Sign up for our free newsletter today. But a closer look at what the report actually found shows that the safety record of robotaxis is so strong that they clear even the bar of safety compared with professional drivers in the Big Apple. Unfortunately, the report skewed the numbers to push the authors’ preferred narrative. The study’s strongest statistical analysis looks at the risk of injury-causing crashes among different vehicle types. These data are taken from Waymo’s reporting to federal regulators and crash data from the NYPD indicating injuries or fatalities. Over 40,000 such cases occur in New York City in a typical year, allowing for a statistically sound comparison against Waymo’s record, whether deployed in San Francisco or nationwide. The report’s key finding is that Waymos are involved in far fewer injury-causing crashes than either New York City drivers or for-hire vehicles: 0.71 crashes per million miles nationally compared with 2.15 for New York City’s taxis, Ubers, and Lyfts. This is especially striking because New York City’s lower speed limits and other
The website expansion reflects the continued maturation of Poseidon’s Forge technology ecosystem and follows significant company milestones, including the recent sale of the DarkWake™ autonomous underwater vehicle platform through Booz Allen Hamilton in support of the US Navy’s Advanced Undersea Systems Program Office (PMS 394). “Customers are looking for autonomous systems that can evolve alongside changing mission requirements,” said Daryl Slocum, Founder and CEO of Poseidon’s Forge. “The enhanced website reflects the maturation of our technology portfolio and demonstrates how our modular approach enables organizations to deploy advanced undersea capabilities faster, more efficiently, and at lower lifecycle cost.” The website is introducing details around Mission Kit Architecture content, demonstrating how Poseidon’s Forge platforms can be configured for specialized operational profiles through the addition of mission-specific kits. Rather than requiring entirely different vehicle platforms, operators can leverage a shared foundation that is tailored to meet evolving mission needs within their operational community. Initial mission kit examples featured on the website include: - IHO Hydrographic Survey Operations - Subsea Infrastructure Inspection - Environmental Monitoring Missions The website also showcases the company’s field-configurable payload architecture, demonstrating how the same core vehicle can support a broad range of applications, including: - Oil and Gas Surveys - Subsea Infrastructure Inspection - Environmental Monitoring - Bathymetry and Seafloor Mapping - Port and Harbor Operations - Science and Research Missions These mission profiles highlight the flexibility of the DarkWake™ platform and illustrate how a common vehicle architecture can support multiple operational requirements while reducing acquisition complexity, training burdens, and lifecycle costs. In addition to expanded mission content, the website provides enhanced access to platform information and system-level capabilities, including open payload architecture, mission data focus, and operator-centered autonomy. “The future of autonomous maritime operations belongs to adaptable platforms, not fixed solutions,” added Slocum. “Our goal is to