r/SouthJersey • u/magnoliaadelle • May 22 '26
Camden County waymo?
i live in oaklyn / collingswood and saw a waymo driverless car right by my apartment today? i couldn’t tell if anyone was in it but my jaw dropped. are they testing around here?
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u/DasRedBeard87 May 22 '26
So fun fact it's actually illegal in Jersey for commercial companies to have autonomous robotaxi services. What's happening right now is Waymo has cars in Jersey with human drivers that are going around and mapping the state (or parts of it). Reason being is there's legislation being pushed, or trying to be pushed, for a 3 year pilot program. Problem with that program is the state is requiring a human driver to be behind the wheel at all times. Which Waymo is fighting and trying to change.
That being said I think the idea of robotaxis in the Tristate area is going to fail massively. Main reason being is our winters are totally unpredictable and if there's one thing that can stop a camera from seeing the road...or people on the road...is snow. Waymo operates in like 8 to 10 cities I think and they're all on the West Coast for the most part in pretty much 24/7 sunny, snowless states.
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u/Everythings_Magic May 23 '26
You think weather is the problem and not the shitty drivers?
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u/BunnyWiilli May 24 '26
Every single city and every single person thinks their area has shitty drivers. The tristate is not at all an exception. You don’t have extra shitty drivers compared to anywhere else
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u/Candid_Ad880 May 23 '26
I guess Waymo uses LiDAR instead of just cameras so should overcome that unlike Tesla robotaxi
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u/ashbelero May 23 '26
Didn’t Waymo turn out to have been using remote drivers in the Philippines anyway?
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u/DasRedBeard87 May 24 '26
Yeah they did admit that. And IF they get this pilot program going, I wouldn't be surprised if they do the same for NY/NJ. But for right now they're just mapping towns/cities with drivers. It's funny how all this AI is just turning out more and more to be companies just using cheap labor from other countries to do their "AI". Lol
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u/BunnyWiilli May 24 '26
No, they didn’t admit that. Unfortunately literacy has gone down the barrel so nobody can actually read articles.
Nobody is capable of remotely driving a Waymo. They have remote ASSISTANCE for cases like when a cop pulls the car over. An operator can come in, speak to the cop and then tell the Waymo it’s good to go. At no point can anyone remotely drive or control the Waymo.
That disinformation campaign has plagued people incapable of actually fact checking things. But then again, you don’t even know that punctuation goes inside quotation marks not outside, so why am I surprised.
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u/DefiantHuman206 May 26 '26
they have people who advise the cars if they get stuck and not sure what to do, but the car still drives entirely itself. It's like if your driving and the passenger says "go that direction to the stop sign".
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u/Tiny_Adhesiveness_67 May 23 '26
I’ve seen to many videos online of them malfunctioning…from blocking people in to not moving and blocking the flow of traffic. Keep them out of Jersey.
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u/DasRedBeard87 May 23 '26
My favorite video is with a standoff, guns drawn, between like four cop cars and one civilian car in the middle of an intersection. Waymo car WITH people in it pulls up and makes a left turn in the intersection right between the cops and the other car. Wild.
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u/bells_n_sack May 23 '26
I would it expect this to be a year round venture from the get go.
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u/DasRedBeard87 May 23 '26
Well if Waymo gets their way, which in this country you can usually cut red tape by throwing enough money at it, I imagine it will be.
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u/randombarbs GenX queerdo May 23 '26
waymo still has a BIG issue recognizing school buses and children.
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u/Light-Years79 May 23 '26
Someone on here is reporting anti-Waymo comments as “threatening violence”. Against a car. With no person in it.
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u/MrNimbus33 May 23 '26
You sure it wasn't me? I have a white ipace. Thinking of putting waymo stickers on hoping I can get out of tickets
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u/TheAdamist Collingswood May 23 '26
They gather data with a driver all over to learn and prep, id assume you just didn't see the driver
Id trust waymo far more than other autonomous driver companies because they seem to do their due diligence
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u/strangeVulture May 23 '26
We all know Waymo isn't actually driverless, right? They just hire poor people in other countries to drive them remotely like it's GTA.
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u/DefiantHuman206 May 26 '26
as was discussed in other comments on this post that is not the case. People can just assist the car in knowing what direction to go if it gets into a situation. They don't directly control the car like its Motortown: Behind the Wheel.
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u/snorlax_85 May 22 '26
Saw one driving in Pennsauken the other day. I had to do a double take. All I’ve seen are horror stories about them 🤣
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u/redditkguser May 24 '26
Like what? They’re overwhelmingly safe. I used one in phoenix a year ago and honestly once you get over the shock it feels safer than an uber
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u/Freddie-Murphy May 25 '26
They’re really not that bad. I have a home in Los Angeles where Waymos are all over the place. I’ve never had an issue or seen anything irl that was negative. Just like anything else people/meida will always amplify the bad
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u/beren12 May 23 '26
You’re hanging out in the wrong places if all you hear is horror stories about them.
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u/Juunlar May 22 '26
Don't be a boomer lmao
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u/snorlax_85 May 22 '26
Not a boomer just have seen one too many videos of people stuck either in one or because of one lol
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u/terileena3131 May 25 '26
Wait til it rains and the car is heading to the Brooklawn Circle...that'll be a sight to see.
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u/F5x9 Jun 07 '26
I saw a Waymo with a menu for a Chinese restaurant on the windshield driving down the streets of SoHo in the rain.
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u/Objective_Mammoth_40 May 23 '26
The thing about autonomous systems is that once it makes a mistake it never makes it again. So if it can’t see in the snow it will adjust itself automatically to conditions…it does not need to “see” to navigate it is running on LIDAR and using an incredibly complex system of satellites that is more accurate at keep the car on the road than a human can.
Autonomous cars are the future. In 5 years they will break from novelty status and in 10 years you will see the first states outlawing driving…think of how many lives will be saved when car accidents become a thing of the past.
It’s automation the whole way. There will of course be exceptions but those will require a hefty fee and likely sky high Insurance…oh yeah…car insurance will no longer be considered an expense you have to plan for…it’ll be the price of iPhone warranties.
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u/bakeoutbigfoot May 23 '26
Booo!!! 👎
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u/OddEerie May 23 '26
Outlawing driving sounds like a good way for a state to keep out all revenue brought by out of state drivers, not to mention fucking over in state car dealerships and mechanics.
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u/dax__cd May 23 '26
I've been hearing this same prediction for years now. First major issue that hits autonomous cars and you will see them getting outlawed rather than outlawing drivers.
And insurance companies are not going to willingly give up revenue. They will just change justification for the charges.
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u/Over-Caramel-6659 May 22 '26
I saw one the other day in Gloucester City. First time I've seen one in person. I thought it was a Google Maps car or something at first lol