Driverless Trucks Set to Hit US Highways
2024-05-05
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1An American company is preparing to launch a series of driverless trucks to transport goods on a major public highway.
2Aurora Innovation says it plans to begin the service later this year in Texas with 20 tractor-trailers.
3The trucks will drive back and forth to transport goods between the cities of Dallas and Houston.
4The Pittsburgh-based company says it hopes to expand the service to thousands of tractor-trailers within three to four years.
5Aurora says the transportation method could operate 24 hours a day.
6It aims to speed up the process and possibly save on transportation costs.
7Aurora will continue testing for the next nine months.
8If all goes well, the driverless program will begin after that.
9At first, the trucks will be carrying loads for FedEx and other transportation partners between the companies' processing centers.
10Since 2021, Aurora trucks have autonomously carried goods over 1 million kilometers on public roads.
11But those vehicles all had human safety drivers sitting inside.
12The company said there have been three crashes involving those trucks.
13And, it said all of the crashes were the result of mistakes by human drivers of other vehicles.
14The crashes were minor and no one was hurt in them.
15And in each case, the company said, the Aurora truck was able to safely pull off to the side of the road.
16Federal records that began in June 2021 show at least 13 crashes with other vehicles involving autonomous tractor-trailers.
17In all those cases, the crashes were caused by other vehicles changing lanes or hitting trucks from behind.
18Sometimes, human safety drivers took over just before the crash.
19Progress in the U.S. on driverless, or autonomous, technology has slowed in recent years.
20Several companies had already made plans to launch self-driving taxi services in major cities.
21But those efforts have repeatedly faced delays.
22A "robotaxi" service developed by General Motors, called Cruise, has struggled after one of its vehicles suffered a serious crash.
23And Alphabet's Waymo is facing opposition to expanding its autonomous rider service in California.
24Safety groups have warned that with almost no federal rules covering autonomous vehicles, it will largely be up to companies themselves to decide when their vehicles are safe enough to operate without humans.
25Critics say government agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, could be doing more to ensure the safety of such programs.
26They point out that often, safety is only examined and new rules enacted after crashes happen.
27But Aurora and other companies argue that years of testing demonstrate that their trucks will actually be safer than human-driven ones.
28They note that the vehicles' laser and radar sensors can "see" farther than any human eyes can.
29And the trucks never get tired like humans do.
30They also are not affected by alcohol or drugs.
31"We want to be out there with thousands or tens of thousands of trucks on the road," said Aurora chief Chris Urmson.
32"And to do that, we have to be safe, he said.
33"It's the only way that the public will accept it."
34Urmson, who spoke to The Associated Press, is the former head of Google's autonomous vehicle operations.
35Phil Koopman is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies driverless vehicle safety.
36He told the AP he agrees that self-driving trucks can theoretically be safer than human-driven ones.
37But he warned that the vehicles' computers will at times make errors.
38Koopman said the trucks' actual performance will depend on the quality of their safety engineering.
39With billions of dollars in investments, Koopman said he wonders how autonomous transportation companies will balance safety decisions against cost concerns.
40"Everything I see indicates they're trying to do the right thing, but the devil is in the details," he said.
41I'm Bryan Lynn
1An American company is preparing to launch a series of driverless trucks to transport goods on a major public highway. 2Aurora Innovation says it plans to begin the service later this year in Texas with 20 tractor-trailers. The trucks will drive back and forth to transport goods between the cities of Dallas and Houston. 3The Pittsburgh-based company says it hopes to expand the service to thousands of tractor-trailers within three to four years. Aurora says the transportation method could operate 24 hours a day. It aims to speed up the process and possibly save on transportation costs. 4Aurora will continue testing for the next nine months. If all goes well, the driverless program will begin after that. At first, the trucks will be carrying loads for FedEx and other transportation partners between the companies' processing centers. 5Since 2021, Aurora trucks have autonomously carried goods over 1 million kilometers on public roads. But those vehicles all had human safety drivers sitting inside. 6The company said there have been three crashes involving those trucks. And, it said all of the crashes were the result of mistakes by human drivers of other vehicles. The crashes were minor and no one was hurt in them. And in each case, the company said, the Aurora truck was able to safely pull off to the side of the road. 7Federal records that began in June 2021 show at least 13 crashes with other vehicles involving autonomous tractor-trailers. In all those cases, the crashes were caused by other vehicles changing lanes or hitting trucks from behind. Sometimes, human safety drivers took over just before the crash. 8Progress in the U.S. on driverless, or autonomous, technology has slowed in recent years. Several companies had already made plans to launch self-driving taxi services in major cities. But those efforts have repeatedly faced delays. 9A "robotaxi" service developed by General Motors, called Cruise, has struggled after one of its vehicles suffered a serious crash. And Alphabet's Waymo is facing opposition to expanding its autonomous rider service in California. 10Safety groups have warned that with almost no federal rules covering autonomous vehicles, it will largely be up to companies themselves to decide when their vehicles are safe enough to operate without humans. 11Critics say government agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, could be doing more to ensure the safety of such programs. They point out that often, safety is only examined and new rules enacted after crashes happen. 12But Aurora and other companies argue that years of testing demonstrate that their trucks will actually be safer than human-driven ones. They note that the vehicles' laser and radar sensors can "see" farther than any human eyes can. And the trucks never get tired like humans do. They also are not affected by alcohol or drugs. 13"We want to be out there with thousands or tens of thousands of trucks on the road," said Aurora chief Chris Urmson. "And to do that, we have to be safe, he said. "It's the only way that the public will accept it." Urmson, who spoke to The Associated Press, is the former head of Google's autonomous vehicle operations. 14Phil Koopman is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies driverless vehicle safety. He told the AP he agrees that self-driving trucks can theoretically be safer than human-driven ones. But he warned that the vehicles' computers will at times make errors. Koopman said the trucks' actual performance will depend on the quality of their safety engineering. 15With billions of dollars in investments, Koopman said he wonders how autonomous transportation companies will balance safety decisions against cost concerns. "Everything I see indicates they're trying to do the right thing, but the devil is in the details," he said. 16I'm Bryan Lynn 17The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 18___________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20autonomous - adj. the ability to operate independently without the help of humans 21lane - n. part of a road or track that is separated from the other parts 22laser - n. a strong beam of light that has medical and technical uses 23radar - n. a system that uses radio waves to find out the position of something you cannot see