Self-Driving · September 2026Gaffe level: Blunder
Waymo's Robotaxis Keep Generating Sleeper 911 Calls for Passed-Out Riders
Austin logged 99 welfare calls in nine months for unresponsive passengers inside Waymo vehicles, since there is no driver to wake them and remote staff cannot tell a nap from cardiac arrest through the cameras. Only 3% of the sleeper calls needed hospital transport, but each one ties up fire and EMS crews on the city's dime.
Source: Jalopnik
SkyFall's StarGate Drone Evacuated Two Wounded Soldiers From the Front Line
Ukraine's 475th Separate Assault Regiment says it used the purpose-built StarGate drone to evacuate two seriously wounded soldiers in the space of a week, flying one casualty nearly 20 miles to reach him and about the same distance back. Ground vehicles could not reach the men because of water obstacles and attack-drone threats, and the covered, medical-grade stretcher module kept each casualty protected in flight. The regiment now plans a dedicated aerial medical evacuation unit, turning one-off rescues into a repeatable capability.
Source: The War Zone