Recalls, GigU and Tesla Robotaxis

Waymo recalls cars, GigU comes to America and Tesla falls behind. LegalRideshare breaks it down. WAYMO RECALLS 1200 VEHICLES Waymo recalls more than 1200 vehicles after minor collisions. Reuters reported: Waymo is recalling more than 1,200 self-driving vehicles to update software and address risks of collisions with chains, gates and other roadway barriers after U.S. auto safety investigators opened a probe last year. The recall affects 1,212 Waymo vehicles operating on the company's fifth-generation automated driving system software, the company said. Waymo said it was aware of 16 collisions with chains, gates and other barriers between 2022 and late 2024. But the incidents did not result in any injuries, according to a report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA opened an investigation into the performance of Waymo self-driving vehicles in May 2024 after reports of its robotaxis exhibiting driving behavior that potentially violated traffic safety laws. The agency said several incidents under investigation “involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid.” The investigation remains open. GIGU COMES TO AMERICA GigU, an app to help drivers make more money comes to America. Business Insider reported: An app launching in the US on Wednesday has drawn ire from Uber in the past after helping gig workers answer a key question: Which rides and deliveries make the most financial sense to take? GigU uses information that independent contractors see on-screen when they are offered a gig to calculate an estimate of how much the worker will earn per mile and at an hourly rate. The feature, which GigU calls the “cherry picker,” is designed to help drivers and delivery workers accept or reject a job within the seconds-long window that most apps give them, its founders say. The app works with only Android phones for now. In GigU, users can set specific ranges for pay and, for ride-hailing gigs, passenger ratings. Based on those settings, GigU assigns a color to orders or rides as they pop up on screen: Green for a job that would be the most lucrative for the driver, yellow for options with earnings that mostly fall between the ranges that users set, and red for a job that doesn't meet their goals. An Uber spokesperson said that “using automation tools, apps, or bots to manipulate the Uber app or access Uber data in any way isn't allowed” per its community guidelines and terms of service. Uber is still “engaged on the legal front in Brazil” with GigU and StopClub, the spokesperson added. GigU's founders say that their app merely takes information that the gig worker already sees and presents it in a more analytical context. From there, it's up to the gig worker to make a choice, they said. TESLA'S ROBOTAXI SERVICE FALLS BEHIND Tesla's robotaxi service is falling behind. Futurism reported: As The Information reports, the company is already woefully behind schedule and hasn't even started testing its autonomous vehicles without a safety driver as of April. And the company is quickly running out of time. Musk promised that Tesla would launch an autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin in a matter of weeks — a characteristically overly ambitious promise. The Texas Department of Public Safety hasn't even received a plan for what would happen in case of an emergency from Tesla. As The Information points out, it took Waymo a decade to complete detailed maps of each city to allow its fleet of fully autonomous vehicles to roam the streets safely. It took months of having a human safety driver behind the wheel before its operation could go fully driverless. Tesla has chosen a completely different approach, relying on its loyal customers to accumulate driving data. A Tesla engineer told The Information that the carmaker is struggling with “mundane operational problems,” like getting cars unstuck and providing customer service. Experts have also raised safety concerns about Tesla's decision to exclusively rely on cameras, unlike its competitors, like Waymo, which rely on more precise sensors, like radar and LIDAR. LegalRideshare is the first law firm in the United States to focus exclusively on Uber®, Lyft®, robotaxis, gig workers, delivery and e-scooter accidents and injuries. Consultations are always free.