Waymo Robotaxis Invade Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando

More Robotaxis More Problems

Well hello there! It's me Mr. Bean your resident expert on all things… complicated. Seems those clever folks at Google's Waymo are unleashing their robotaxis upon the unsuspecting citizens of Dallas Houston San Antonio and Orlando. Ten cities now can you believe it? It's like they're multiplying faster than my collection of mismatched socks. But the question is are these driverless vehicles ready for the real world? I'm not so sure. Remember that time I tried to drive from an armchair on the roof of my Mini? Didn't end well. And these robotaxis stopping in the middle of the road causing gridlock? Sounds like my kind of chaos.

Winning Hearts and Minds (and Overcoming Fear)

Apparently six in ten Americans are scared stiff of these things. Can't say I blame them. I'd be nervous too. But Waymo seems determined to win us over one hesitant passenger at a time. They're hoping to get loyal customers and impress those afraid of self driving vehicles. I always say if at first you don't succeed try try again. Or in my case try a completely different approach involving a rubber chicken and a complicated series of pulleys. Speaking of problems have you heard about the issues at [CONTENT] El Paso Airport Grounded Then Cleared Was It Cartel Drones or Bureaucratic Blunder? Makes you wonder if we are ever really ready for the future.

The Race is On

But Waymo is not the only player in this game. Tesla Amazon's Zoox and a bunch of startups are all racing to put their own robotaxis on the road. It is like my competition with that pesky blue car! The first one there wins! This race is on and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.

Safety First? Maybe?

Now before we all jump on board the robotaxi bandwagon let's talk about safety. Seems the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is keeping a close eye on Waymo's vehicles. There have been concerns about how they behave around schools and buses. And let's not forget the time they caused a massive traffic jam during a power outage. 'Teddy!' as I would scream when things went south. Clearly there are still a few kinks to work out.

Big Numbers Big Money

Despite the hiccups Waymo is raking in the dough. A $126 billion valuation is not bad eh? And they're already doing over 400,000 paid trips a week. That's a lot of people trusting their lives to a computer on wheels. Still makes me wonder what is wrong with good old bus with a driver but I digress.

The Human Element

And here's a little secret: these driverless cars aren't entirely driverless. They rely on "remote assistants" to guide them through tricky situations. So it's more like having a very very patient taxi driver hiding in a call center somewhere. I like that. At least there is still a human element.