Tesla’s Cybercabs rolled out in Austin last week, and they have many wondering about their safety.
With the development of this technology, it raises the question: are first responders equipped to deal with a potential issue should one arise?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a query into the services, reviewing the technical information and process Tesla used to certify the vehicles.
Before the U.S. Department of Transportation pumped the brakes on the hype around last week’s rollout of the Cybercab service, one autonomous vehicle expert addressed those particular concerns as it relates to emergency responders.
“EMS systems still need to be able to get these vehicles out of the way if they malfunction,” Kara Kockelman, a transportation engineering professor at UT Austin, said. “Especially in the event of trying to access emergencies or help people flee certain sites.”
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The company says each Cybercab also has an emergency stop button that requests an immediate pullover and connects riders to Robotaxi support.
However, some say they would want to be able to take control of the vehicle in case of an emergency.
Right now Cybercabs are only operating in limited select areas of Austin. CBS Austin has reached out to Tesla for a response to the audit.
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