autonomous cars

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Mystery of Fatal Tesla Crash With No Driver Is Solved

NTSB report finds that Autopilot was not in use after all in 2021 crash

(Newser) - Authorities say they know why no one was in the driver's seat when a Tesla Model S crashed in 2021, killing the two men inside, and it's not the reason initially believed. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the driver moved into the back seat...

This City's Self-Driving Cars Are Causing Oodles of 911 Calls

San Francisco logged nearly 100 emergency calls about autonomous cars in second half of 2022

(Newser) - Traffic in San Francisco was, well, weird during the last half of 2022, and fingers are being pointed at the city's autonomous vehicles. Per a Wednesday letter from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority to the California Public Utilities Commission, there were a whole lot of 911 calls (92,...

Tesla Issues Recall Over 'Rolling Stops'

54K cars, SUVs recalled due to Full Self-Driving feature that critics say is unsafe

(Newser) - Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because its "Full Self-Driving" software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt. Documents posted Tuesday by US safety regulators say Tesla will disable the feature with an over-the-internet software update, per the AP . The "...

Tesla Self-Driving Feature Puts Car in 'Assertive' Mode

It allows vehicle to shorten follow distance, come to 'rolling stops'

(Newser) - A Tesla self-driving feature is drawing backlash for what some are saying could lead to too-aggressive driving. The Verge reports that the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta allows vehicle operators to choose from one of three driving modes that control how the car reacts to road conditions: "Chill,...

A Truck Just Drove 80 Miles With No Human on Board

Autonomous trucker TuSimple logs first no-human road test in Arizona

(Newser) - A semitruck completed an 80-mile route in Arizona with no human on board and no human intervention during the trip using technology developed by TuSimple, the company said Wednesday. The San Diego company says it's the first successful fully-autonomous run by a Class 8 vehicle, or semi, on open...

Report: Apple Is Working on Fully Self-Driving Car

Sources say company plans to launch by 2025

(Newser) - Apple's secretive "Project Titan" car team has shifted gears, insiders say. Sources tell Bloomberg that the team is now concentrating on creating a fully self-driving vehicle and aims to launch it by 2025. Bloomberg's sources say the company recently reached a "key milestone in developing the...

Cop to Driver: 'I Followed You for About 2 Miles and You Were Sleeping'

Wisconsin authorities say man was behind the wheel of a Tesla using its Autopilot feature

(Newser) - According to the Tesla website , the Autopilot feature built in to all of its new vehicles offers "advanced safety and convenience features ... designed to assist you with the most burdensome parts of driving." For an Illinois man who took a spin in Wisconsin over the weekend, one of...

Startup Reveals Self-Driving Taxi With No Steering Wheel
Is This the Car of the Future?
Dec 15, 2020 6:57 AM CST

Is This the Car of the Future?

Bezos-owned Zoox reveals self-driving taxi with no steering wheel

(Newser) - Taxi service could someday look quite different: Zoox, a self-driving startup acquired by Jeff Bezos' Amazon in June, on Monday revealed its autonomous taxi prototype. The robotaxi, which does away with the steering wheel, pedals, and driver's seat entirely, "reimagines the entire premise of a car," per...

The Car Was Going 93mph. The Driver Was Taking a Nap

Canadian officers say they found both front seats reclined, car apparently on Autopilot

(Newser) - Police in Canada say a man has been charged over a July incident in which he was allegedly snoozing away as his apparently self-driving car traveled more than 93mph. Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers were alerted around 4pm on July 9 to a Tesla Model S speeding down the highway...

Cops: Man Smashes Into Patrol Cars While Catching a Flick

North Carolina doctor had his Tesla in 'Autopilot' mode, police say

(Newser) - Bad luck: to crash into other vehicles while driving. Worse luck: to crash into other vehicles that happen to be police cars. Worst luck of all: to do all of the above while you're watching a movie. Officials in North Carolina say that was the fate of a Raleigh...

Ex-Google Exec Gets Prison for Stealing Robocar Secrets

Anthony Levandowski also ordered to pay more than $850K

(Newser) - A former Google engineer has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing trade secrets before joining Uber's effort to build robotic vehicles for its ride-hailing service. The sentence handed down Tuesday by US District Judge William Alsup came more than four months after former...

Feds Investigating Fatal Tesla Crash
Tesla Crash Kills 2
Jan 1, 2020 6:00 AM CST

Tesla Crash Kills 2

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating

(Newser) - A Tesla crash killed two people in the wee hours of Sunday in a Los Angeles suburb, and now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating. The Tesla Model S was speeding, ran a red light, and hit a Honda Civic at the Gardena intersection, killing a man and...

Uber Not Liable in Self-Driving Crash That Killed Woman

But the driver could still face charges over fatal crash in Arizona last year

(Newser) - An Arizona prosecutor has determined that Uber isn't criminally liable in a crash last year in which one of its self-driving SUVs fatally struck a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix. But it's not known whether prosecutors are considering charges against the driver in the March 18 crash in Tempe...

A Self-Driving Uber Killed Her. Her Family Targets Where She Died

$10M claim says city of Tempe, Ariz., had brick path that encouraged people to jaywalk

(Newser) - Family members of the first American killed by an autonomous Uber vehicle have settled with Uber itself, but now they're going after an Arizona city for the homeless woman's death. Per the Arizona Republic , Elaine Herzberg, 49, was killed March 18, 2018, in Tempe by an Uber Volvo...

Elon Musk Just Pressed a Button to Set Off a Tesla First

Company's first car-manufacturing factory outside of US breaks ground in China

(Newser) - With the press of a button, Elon Musk set in motion Monday a big first for Tesla. Per Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal , the company's first car-manufacturing plant outside the US broke ground a couple of hours from Shanghai, a four-year effort that comes during a turbulent time...

Driverless Cars Could Turn Into 'Red Light District on the Move'
Study Finds
Illicit Side Effect
of Driverless Cars
study says
Nov 12, 2018 12:19 PM CST

Study Finds Illicit Side Effect of Driverless Cars

It's likely people will use them for sex, researchers say

(Newser) - One possible side effect of driverless cars that may not have occurred to you? An increasing number of people having sex in cars. In a new study from the Annals of Tourism Research titled " Autonomous vehicles and the future of urban tourism ," researchers note that self-driving cars could...

Silicon Valley Swap: Apple Gets Back Top Engineer From Tesla

Doug Field rumored to be working on Project Titan autonomous-car initiative

(Newser) - One Silicon Valley wheel just circled back to its starting point. A top Apple engineer who left in 2013 to join Tesla as its chief vehicle engineer is back with his former employer. The Verge reports that Doug Field, who'd been the VP of Mac hardware for the Cupertino...

Apple Employee Allegedly Stole Self-Driving Car Tech

Zhang Xiaolang was arrested as he was about to leave for China

(Newser) - A former Apple engineer was arrested as he was about to board a flight from San Jose to China Saturday, accused by US prosecutors of stealing tech secrets from the firm with the plan of passing them along to a Chinese startup, the Washington Post reports. Zhang Xiaolang, once a...

Tesla in Autopilot Mode Crashes Into Police Car

It was 2nd autopilot crash in same spot

(Newser) - A Tesla in autopilot mode created yet more unfortunate headlines for the company when it slammed into a police cruiser in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Tuesday. Police say the patrol vehicle was totaled but it was thankfully unoccupied at the time of the crash, KTLA reports. A Tesla in semi-autonomous...

Uber's Self-Driving Car Was Going 40mph, Didn't Slow

The latest on the crash that killed pedestrian Elaine Herzberg

(Newser) - The death of a 49-year-old pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., on Sunday night is being called the first time a person has been killed by a self-driving vehicle, and Wired provides some perspective: "Human drivers kill just 1.16 people for every 100 million miles driven. Waymo and Uber and...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
We use cookies. By Clicking "OK" or any content on this site, you agree to allow cookies to be placed. Read more in our privacy policy.