Feed: All Latest | Emergency First Responders Say Waymos Are Getting Worse by Aarian Marshall AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Emergency‑first‑responder leaders from San Francisco and Austin told federal regulators that Waymo’s driverless cars are increasingly hindering their work, frequently freezing, blocking fire stations and ambulances, and failing to recognize hand signals, which creates dangerous delays during emergencies. Officials described a “backsliding” in performance, citing incidents such as a Waymo vehicle immobilizing an ambulance during a downtown shooting and dozens of cars being stranded during a power outage, and criticized the rapid, large‑scale deployment of the technology before it was ready. Waymo has acknowledged the concerns, pointing to extensive training for more than 35,000 responders and stating it is improving its service, while new California regulations slated for July will require autonomous‑vehicle firms to respond to first‑responder calls within 30 seconds and allow “do‑not‑enter” directives to clear driverless cars from emergency zones. Despite the frustrations, responders expressed a desire to continue working with Waymo and other AV companies as the technology matures. Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/emergency-first-responders-say-waymos-are-getting-worse/ #Waymo #NHTSA #PatrickRabbitt #WilliamWhite #CaliforniaDMV #JuliaIlina