We mentioned last week how robotaxi provider Cruise was having a no-good, very bad week, after one of their driverless taxis picked a fight with a semi, and it was revealed that amorous San Franciscans were taking advantage of the privacy afforded by not having a driver in the front seat. It appears that we weren’t the only ones to notice all the bad news, since California’s Department of Motor Vehicles issued an order to the company to cut its robotaxi fleet in half. The regulatory move comes after a recent Cruise collision with a fire truck, which injured a passenger in the taxi. Curiously, the DMV order stipulates that Cruise can only operate 50 vehicles during the day, while allowing 150 vehicles at night. We’d have thought the opposite would make more sense, since driving at night is generally more difficult than during daylight hours. But perhaps the logic is that the streets are less crowded at night, whereas daytime is a more target-rich environment.
We’ve been harping on this page over and over about the potential for unintended consequences from the push to remove AM radio from the infotainment systems of modern cars, particularly from electrically noisy EVs. Our position has been that as outmoded and generally unloved as AM radio may be, it still serves the purpose of providing broad access to news and information in the event of an emergency. As if to prove that point, part of the response to the tragic Maui wildfires has been the deployment of four RadioSTAT AM transmitters, to keep survivors in Lahaina ..
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