--- title: "Can We Please Stop With These Offensively Stupid “Robotaxis”?" description: "After canning its autonomous vehicle division in 2020, Uber is back with a robotaxi service open to customers for free — but who needs 'em?" date: "2022-12-08" modified: "2022-12-08" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/please-stop-with-these-stupid-robotaxis" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "Autonomous vehicles" - "robotaxi" - "self driving car" - "the digest" --- # Can We Please Stop With These Offensively Stupid “Robotaxis”? ![After canning its autonomous vehicle division in 2020, Uber is back with a robotaxi service open to customers for free — but who needs 'em?]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Sign of the Times Oh great, now there's another batch of "driverless" robotaxis hitting the streets. Except, unsurprisingly, there's a human "safety driver" at the wheel who's ready to intervene at any moment. That human, skeptics will point out, could just drive the taxi themselves, obviating the whole "self driving" dog and pony show. And yet, after selling its doomed autonomous vehicle division in 2020 in the wake of a [tragic and fatal accident](), Uber is now back with self-driving taxis in Las Vegas. Whoop-de-doo. This time around, Uber isn't designing the self-driving tech itself, but is instead using cars built by autonomous vehicle company Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv, *The Verge* [reports](). Motional is also [partnered with direct rival Lyft](), which [beat Uber to the punch]() with a robotaxi service of its own in August. In an apparent bid to drum up excitement, Motional announced that its taxis will be fully driverless by 2023 (we've [heard that one before]()). So no more safety drivers, in other words. Somehow, *less* safety is the selling point here. Can they just knock off the hype bait until they have something real to show off? ## Take the Wheel Bereft of anything interesting to offer, at least the service is currently free. Uber says it will start charging fares in the future after its driverless commercial launch, [according to ]()*[Reuters]().* The launch of a robotaxi service in your city was at one point a somewhat novel development, in other words, but now merely something to roll your eyes at. And existing robotaxi services, like GM's which launched over the summer, have been turning heads for all the wrong reasons, like some of its taxis [simultaneously shutting down]() in the middle of a road or [crashing into oncoming traffic]() while making an "unprotected" left turn, injuring two passengers. Really, the whole thing just leaves you wondering why we need these autonomous cabs over a regular Uber or taxi that employs a real human. And besides, why call them robotaxis when there needs to be a person in the driving seat? **More on robotaxis:** *[As Elon Musk Promises Human Brain Implants in 6 Months, Remember He Promised a Million Tesla Robotaxis by 2020]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()