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A Waymo autonomous vehicle goes through standing water *April 30 in Austin. Waymo, Tesla and other AV developers are facing pressure from federal regulators on how they operate around emergency scenes.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
A Tesla Cybercab is on display during the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals. The Austin\u00a0automaker produces the purpose-built robotaxi at Gigafactory Texas.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Federal highway safety regulators want immediate answers from\u00a0Waymo<\/a>, Tesla<\/a>, Zoox<\/a> and other makers of self-driving cars about how they plan to keep the vehicles from getting in the way of emergency services.\u00a0<\/p>\n The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration<\/a> said it has documented dozens of incidents across the country it said are part of \u201ca clear pattern of driverless (autonomous vehicles) interfering with law enforcement or other first responders.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The \u201crecent, disturbing trend\u201d has prompted a\u00a0strongly worded letter<\/a> to\u00a0carmakers and a call to action requiring them to meet with the agency on the issue by the end of the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the agency, recent examples of interference include incidents where\u00a0robotaxis \u201cdrove directly into active emergency scenes, blocked the paths of ambulances and firefighters, or failed to recognize and respond to basic safety conditions like flashing lights, flares, smoke, fire, and traffic cones.\u201d<\/p>\n RELATED: Records show Waymo robotaxi entered floodwaters near dangerous San Antonio crossing<\/a><\/p>\n NHTSA cites Texas incidents involving autonomous vehicles<\/p>\n There have been nearly two dozen such episodes in Austin, including one in March where several\u00a0Waymo robotaxis blocked<\/a> emergency medical services responding to a mass shooting. In March in San Antonio, a human driving a Waymo car was cited for crossing barriers at an active house fire.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is unacceptable,\u201d wrote Jonathan\u00a0Morrison, the NHTSA administrator. \u201cTo state it bluntly: an AV that cannot safely interact with first responders is a danger to the general public.\u201d<\/p>\n Several types of self-driving vehicles, including\u00a0Waymo, Tesla Inc.\u2019s\u00a0Robotaxi, Avride and Zoox,\u00a0operate\u00a0in cities across Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Industry leader\u00a0Waymo has vehicles in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, but its San Antonio service remains shut down<\/a> after one of its unoccupied cars drove itself into floodwaters on April 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n READ MORE: Tesla’s robotaxis may be coming to San Antonio soon<\/a><\/p>\n Tesla’s Robotaxi-branded Model Ys are operating in Austin, Dallas and Houston and the company appears to have plans for San Antonio<\/a>. Most of those cars still have human safety monitors onboard.<\/p>\n Morrison wrote that an autonomous vehicle disrupting emergency vehicles is more than a \u201cminor software anomaly\u201d and that the technology must \u201cget out of the way, not disrupt their life saving mission or compound the danger they face.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He called on autonomous vehicle\u00a0developers and operators to focus resources on fixing this issue.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cLet me be clear: the inability to detect and appropriately respond to such situations represents a functional insufficiency,\u201d he wrote. \u201cEmergency scenes are not rare or extreme \u2018edge cases.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n