There Auto Be A Law How AV companies are stalling—and not just their cars!
Mar 12, 2026
A deep dive into an NTSB review of a Santa Monica school-zone crash and whether remote operators are really driving. Reporting on robotaxis stalling in San Francisco and the strain on first responders. A critique of Waymo safety claims and the studies behind them. Discussion of Zoox design exemptions, AV impacts on vehicle miles, and troubling Tesla FSD railroad incidents.
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Remote Assistants Are Driving Themselves Into Legal Gray Area
- Waymo used a remote “assistance agent” in Novi, Michigan to direct a robotaxi after a school-zone crash, which effectively assigned part of the driving task to a human.
- Fred Perkins and Anthony Simino flagged that calling remote operators "assistants" blurs responsibility and complicates accountability in crashes.
Waymo Safety Claims Rest On Old Internal Data
- Waymo's safety claims rely on three Waymo-authored studies using limited 2022 data and internal 'peer review', making broad safety assertions questionable.
- Fred Perkins shows underlying analyses are inconclusive, sometimes showing higher crash rates in dawn/dusk or turning conditions.
San Francisco First Responders Are Acting As AV Valets
- Fast Company and local San Francisco reports document frequent Waymo robotaxi stalls that force police and firefighters to act as unpaid roadside assistance.
- Officials logged 31 calls to Waymo's hotline and lengthy call times; the mayor even got a thumbs-up emoji reply from Waymo leadership.