encountered an empty Waymo<\/a> vehicle stopped sideways in the roadway, potentially blocking fire engines and other first responders. \u201cThe vehicle was not moving and was blocking over half of the road,\u201d Banda said. \u201cI was hoping the car would move before other first responders arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cIt was not easy,\u201d Banda said. The door would not open with a standard handle, so he had to scan a QR code before the windows lowered and a remote Waymo representative spoke through the speakers. \u201cI was not aware that Waymo provided any training for law enforcement or first responders,\u201d he said. After telling the dispatcher it was an emergency, Banda said he had no idea how many questions would be asked before the door unlocked. \u201cI had to shift my focus to the autonomous vehicle instead of keeping citizens away and safe from the scene.\u201d<\/p>
\nAsked what he would tell Waymo, Banda did not hold back: \u201cWhat would happen to the vehicle if a first responder moved it themselves? How would it react after being moved? Why should a first responder have to correct the problems an autonomous vehicle is having during an emergency, no less?\u201d<\/p>
\nNOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT<\/b><\/p>
\nThe Dallas incident is part of a pattern of Waymo vehicles blocking emergency responders including during a fatal mass shooting in Austin and a power outage in San Francisco for which the company has apologized and issued software updates.<\/p>
\n\u201cWaymo is spending millions this week to tell Americans its vehicles are safer than human drivers. But when Deputy Constable Banda asked a Waymo dispatcher to move a car blocking fire trucks racing to a deadly explosion, the first question wasn\u2019t \u2018Where do you need us to go?\u2019 it was \u2018What\u2019s your name and badge number?\u2019 You can\u2019t run a national safety campaign and then interrogate a cop at a mass casualty scene.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
\n\u201cWaymo\u2019s \u201810 times safer\u2019 claim comes from its own analysis of insurance liability data not independent crash outcomes and is not a peer-reviewed safety standard. Regulations are weak, and no penalty has been announced despite incident after incident. Our community deserve enforceable standards not talking points before these vehicles operate in more communities.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
\n\u2014 Amy Witherite, Founding Attorney, Witherite Law Group<\/b><\/p>
\nAmy Witherite is available to discuss the legal and regulatory implications of Waymo\u2019s emergency response record. Deputy Constable Jonathan Banda is available for interview through the Witherite Law Group media contact above.<\/p>
\nAbout Witherite Law Group<\/b><\/p>
\nWitherite Law Group is a Dallas-based personal injury firm focused on traffic safety, trucking accidents, and emerging transportation technology. Founding attorney Amy Witherite is a recognized advocate for victims of negligence on Texas roads and highways.<\/p> Contacts<\/b>
\nMEDIA CONTACT:<\/b>Witherite Law Group\nmediainquiries@prexperts.net<\/a>(214) 914-1275<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roadway safety advocate Amy Witherite points to real-world incidents that raise questions about autonomous vehicle behavior during emergency operations.DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Amy Witherite, founding attorney of Witherite Law Group and a leading advo…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infos-businesswire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21041,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21040\/revisions\/21041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}