Alternate headline: Money talks, allows immunity to traffic laws.
Robotaxis can break traffic laws without fines under new California rules
Submitted 2 days ago by Wudi@feddit.uk to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
Comments
dan1101@lemmy.world 2 days ago
atrielienz@lemmy.world 2 days ago
If this were true they wouldn’t have enacted any legislation at all (which was the status quo before this). The next step should be to use the data gained from ticketing these robot taxis to determine the rate of infraction and hold the the company accountable when that legislation is ready. I. E. Corp has broken the law X number of times and each infraction equals a penalty, x number of penalties means revoking of license to operate robot taxi service in state etc.
We all know that fining corps isn’t something that actually works because they just consider it part of their operating cost, so the goal should be to prevent them from operating altogether big their product can’t adhere to traffic laws.
Also, I think perhaps it might be worth it to license these vehicles differently. A commercial license of some kind because individuals can’t be held accountable (because either the people operating them or observing them aren’t in the same country, or because there isn’t a vehicle operator at all).
kent_eh@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
because individuals can’t be held accountable
That’s just laziness. There are individuals who can be held accountable.
Starting with the executives who signed off on these things being put on the road in the first place.
jacksilver@lemmy.world 2 days ago
They’re currently breaking the law and not being held accountable. The threat of eventually being held accountable is a step in the right direction, but the only reason they’re able to do this right now is due to money.
The fact that they weren’t being ticketed before means that we don’t even really know how bad these cars are, and yet they’ve been allowed to stay on roads with pedestrians and other cars.
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The problem comes to who’s at fault?
Is it the passenger riding? The car itself? The company that programmed it? The owner?
Personally, I agree, robotaxis should be yeeted out of existence if they can’t abide traffic laws- but a lot of them are being operated privately too.
They should’ve not been permitted at all until these questions were answered, and corporations should not have been allowed to comment.
myplacedk@lemmy.world 1 day ago
We all know that fining corps isn’t something that actually works because they just consider it part of their operating cost, so the goal should be to prevent them from operating altogether if their product can’t adhere to traffic laws.
You could say the same thing about human, but that still works.
1: Make the fines big enough to matter, but without making then prohibitively big for small companies.
2: Too many fines result in revoking permission. This doesn’t have to be on company level, the company could group the cars by model or something.
The numbers can be discussed, but this is the framework the legal system is used to, and I don’t see what it wouldn’t work, other than lobbyism.
Skankhunt420@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I remember getting roasted on here for not wanting these because “who would be held responsible if one of these ran into my car.”
People were like “if you just want someone to be punished you should rethink your american tough on crime stance” and I said no, I just want to be paid for my shit when it destroys it.
“They will definitely do that” they said, “there’s no way” they wouldn’t have them take accountability they said.
Looks like I was right.
Lasherz12@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The company must report the incident to the DMV within 72 hours, or 24 hours if the officer has designated the incident a priority because of “a clear or potential danger or risk of injury to others,” the regulations said.
Nothing says imminent danger like a 72 hour grace period to do something about it.
PhoenixDog@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Yeah we know our car blasted around a school bus and killed three children, but you have to understand there is certain paperwork we need to file first.
backalleycoyote@lemmy.today 1 day ago
Our lawyers thought of the children and made sure we were well insulated from wrongful death lawsuits.
HikingVet@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
Some kid is gonna get killed and everyone will wonder how it happened
pedz@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
TBF kids are already getting killed by other cars and society deems it an acceptable loss for being able to take cars everywhere.
In 2023, there’s been 12 fatalities of kids under 4 years old in Canada, and 48 fatalities between 4 and 14 years old. All ages, it’s a total of nearly 2000 dead in a year in Canada alone for 2023.
When a kid dies in a pool we nearly ban them and strengthen regulations. Cities pay inspectors to make sure people have fences around their pool.
When a kid gets clipped by a fast moving cyclist it makes the news. Dangerous cyclists are roaming the streets at high speed, nearly killing children! What an outrage!
But when cars kill a few thousand people every year, one every 30 seconds on the planet, it’s the price we have to pay for this convenience. We can’t stop the world turning. Our economies would collapse without cars so we can’t really impose any regulations on them. They’re EsSeNtIAl.
Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Isn’t this proof that AI can only work if we lower standards?
LodeMike@lemmy.today 1 day ago
I’m sure they won’t abuse this intentionally
Gonzako@lemmy.world 1 day ago
No, they’ll just use it to murder people
GenosseFlosse@feddit.org 1 day ago
Unless they find a way to save some dollars with this loophole.
flandish@lemmy.world 1 day ago
capitalists gonna capitalism. reminder that laws are for us plebs. not the owning classes.
ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 1 day ago
If probability engines* aren’t allowed to offer faster rides by exceeding the speed limit, how are the companies meant to stay competitive and innovate? The state’s whole thing is “move fast and break things”. /s
* and the occasional intervention from an underpaid remote worker in Bangladesh
Legwarmer1411@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
Great, now even one fewer incentive for companies to right their wrongs.
As it they were ever botbered by this operational cost.
_stranger_@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m fine with laws offering no protection to me from robotaxis as long as the law offers them no protection from me.
R00bot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
Hahahahaha no. damage the robotaxis? straight to jail.
laz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
This is some bullshit will someone please think of the children
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
We are thinking of the children, thats why we need to scan your face and see your drivers license if you want to see boobs.
EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 1 day ago
Sorry, best I can do is shoehorn age verification into phones, websites, and OSes.
chattre@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
fuck cars.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 day ago
car collision/ related laws often are very lenient in general.
innermachine@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Yea I get real tired of hearing the term car accident. Sure accidents can happen, but 99.99% of the time one or both parties in a collision weren’t paying attention and crashes occurred because a shit driver made the wrong move. People get complacent because they can play bumper cars and have little consequence, I think people should be ticketed in accidents more often. For example the 16 screws in my left arm are because a company truck driver “accidentally” took a left over double yellows without waiting for traffic to clear. CLEAR traffic violation, but nah let’s just chalk that up to a standard whoopsie daisy. Now home dudes gonna do the same thing in 3 months next time he gets impatient trying to make a turn.
flandish@lemmy.world 1 day ago
i noticed a shift in my 20+ years as a firefighter- we use to say “mva” for motor vehicle accident. now we say “mvc” for “crash” etc. i wonder if someone tried to claim it was an accident, even the fd said so. 🤷♀️
yesman@lemmy.world 2 days ago
This is DEI for robots. If you have to lower the standards to qualify; you don’t.
JamesBoeing737MAX@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
Well, DEI is the only way minorities (including those more competent than aryan competitors) even get any jobs. Yes, it is that terrible.
It fucking works. They just hire the minimum amount of us, but at least those have a job.
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
If you get pulled over just unbuckle quickly and hide in the back.
“oh hey officer, I was just napping. Did my robotaxi do something wrong?”
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 day ago
balloons filled with latex paint do a number on cameras. slash the tires while it can’t see.
should be really easy to get a bunch of them together at the same time too.
it’s like cow tipping but has positive impacts to the world.
bring some friends, make a night of it.
20cello@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Come again?
HubertManne@piefed.social 1 day ago
Since the units can’t get points they should actually pay like double. All units should have a barcode that used so the ticket and fine can go through and get paid in under 24 hours.
FireWire400@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Sales of white Jaguar iPaces have surged
_stranger_@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Raiderkev@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Saw one try to turn left right in front of me when it had an unprotected turn. I didn’t let it in and gave it the bird knowing full well there was no human inside driving to see it. Super cool to know that it won’t face any punishment for similar errors in the future.
billwashere@lemmy.world 2 days ago
So Robot Wars - Mad Max sponsored by GTA?
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 42 minutes ago
that sounds amazing, anyone with enough funds can just stop all traffic past schools! total urbanism win.