Uber drivers in the USA use Tesla's FSD for robotaxis

There is a dangerous trend among ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft in the USA. To achieve more working hours without excessive fatigue, they are also using autonomous driving systems such as Tesla's "Full Self Driving" (FSD) for passenger rides. This is according to a report by the Reuters news agency, which was triggered by an accident involving FSD in Las Vegas.

In this accident in April 2024, Uber driver Justin Yoon was using version 12.3 of FSD in his Tesla Model Y while chauffeuring two passengers. Upon reaching an intersection, Yoon's field of vision, as well as that of the Tesla's cameras, was blocked by a large SUV in the right lane. This vehicle also prevented the other driver, who was trying to cross the intersection from the right, from seeing Yoon's Tesla. She ignored a stop sign and drove into the intersection. There are no traffic lights at this intersection, and the regulation by stop signs and right-before-left is more common in the USA than in Germany.

A blind Tesla drives into a junction

When Yoon noticed the other car, he took the wheel, pulled to the right and still crashed into the side of the vehicle at an angle. He and his passengers sustained minor injuries. According to the Uber driver, the speed at the time of the accident was the prescribed 45 miles per hour (around 72 kilometers per hour). Yoon's dashcam video does not show the Tesla braking or attempting to swerve. Yoon attributes this to the fact that the camera systems had simply not detected the other vehicle. According to the man, the fact that he had used the "Yoke" steering horn instead of a conventional steering wheel did not make things any easier either, and he no longer wants to use it in the future.

Yoon is not the only ridesharing driver who relies on autonomous systems for his work. He is a fan of the technology, and has a video series on his small YouTube channel, "Project Robotaxi", in which he describes his experiences. According to the Reuters report, there are numerous users of the technology among drivers for Uber, Lyft and other services. YouTuber Sergio Avedian, known as "The Rideshare Guy" with over 200,000 subscribers, says that 30 to 40 percent of drivers in the USA regularly use the automated systems.

Reuters spoke to a total of 11 drivers who confirmed this trend. However, some would no longer use the autonomy functions due to bad experiences in certain situations, such as when picking up at the airport, driving through construction sites or in parking lots. The most common error descriptions include abrupt braking or acceleration. None of these effects occurred in Yoon's accident; the Tesla drove straight ahead. In his video, he calls for vehicles used as robotaxis in particular not to have any blind spots, which he believes could be achieved using lidar and radar. Tesla relies purely on cameras.

Autonomous driving with passengers barely regulated

Unlike pure autonomous driving without humans behind the wheel, which is strictly regulated in the US, the use of FSD and other systems in the United States falls into a certain legal gray area. Regulators in Arizona, California and Nevada contacted by Reuters said they would not regulate autonomous systems in ridesharing applications. And Tesla itself has always emphasized, including on the FSD website, that the driver must be able to control and intervene in traffic at all times. When asked by Reuters at Uber and Lyft, the two companies did not provide any clear guidelines for their drivers on the use of the technology.

(nie)