I travelled alone in a driverless taxi – it's a game changer for single women like me

Plus, a British driverless taxi firm received a cash injection last year to bring self-driving cars closer to reality
DRIVER-LESS I travelled alone in a driverless taxi – it's a game changer for single women like me
A SLEEK white car approached me, gliding towards the pavement as a flashing green beacon like an old fashion police light revealed the letters 'CF'.
That was the signifier that this way my driverless taxi.
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Waymo was introduced to the public in San Francisco back in 2024
Credit: Alamy
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I travelled in a Waymo when visiting San Francisco last year
Credit: Cyann Fielding
To unlock the car, I had to go back onto the app and confirm - none of the usual issue of someone battling you for the Uber you thought was yours.
I was in San Francisco hailing a Waymo taxi, which was introduced to the public in the city back in 2024.
The cars are littered all over the city and look like car-versions of Big Hero 6's Baymax.
Once inside, the energy felt very much the same.
Unlike an Uber - where I avoid the front seat at all costs - I made a beeline for it.
This was the best place to be - like the front of the rollercoaster, where you can see all the action.
Though in this case, it was the roads ahead, a wheel rotating on its own accord and a tablet screen showing all of the things within feet of the car.
In fact, the cars sensors and cameras even stretched to the bins and people on the pavement... on the other side of the road.
Without doubt, I was impressed.
The apprehension I had prior to getting in the car had immediately subsided.
Incredible moment Britain's first ever air taxi takes to UK skies with speeds of 150mph and room for four passengers
It didn't feel like an erratic or janky journey, instead very smooth, taking each turn and speedbump with a planned approach.
The reason why San Francisco is home to these vehicles - and other brands' driverless vehicles too - is mostly due to the city's proximity to Silicon Valley, it being a challenging city with lots of hills and also, it having a welcoming attitude towards new technologies.
Whilst the cars cannot go on the highway, they can zip around the city with ease.
Admittedly, to a lot of people they seem like a novelty.
But in reality, the cars really do feel safe and like the future of taxis.
In recent years, there have been a flurry of taxi driver scandals, with young women airing their grievances over creepy drivers.
And in 2022, Uber was sued in the US over allegations of assault by drivers including allegations women passengers were kidnapped.
I have had Uber drivers ask about my age, question my career as a journalist, ask if I am single, been on any dates recently, 'behave' appropriately on nights out - the list goes on.
When I first moved to London, these kinds of incidents meant I didn't know which firm to trust - if it could happen with Ubersdrivers, it could happen with any driver from any taxi app or firm.
I remember having a female driver in Texas, who drove so erratically I thought she was drunk.
And a male driver in London, at 10am in the morning, interrogating me if I had been drinking - all because I had a can of Sprite in my hand.
After a night out, I was stranded on two percent with no Uber accepting my trip.
Whilst the app told me there were no nearby drivers, I was in central London, with many cars with Uber stickers whizzing by me.
More than likely, I was being rejected by drivers because my trip was short and only would cost £5.
Another night, whilst with friends, we had an Uber abandon us on the side of the road and zoom off with no reason explained.
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Once you have ordered an Waymo and it arrives, you unlock it with your phone
Credit: Cyann Fielding
I have had Uber drivers ask about my age, question my career as a journalist, ask if I am single, been on any dates recently, 'behave' appropriately on nights out - the list goes on.
Undoubtedly, I have had amazing drivers too - chatty or not, friendly and respectful, and ones who have offered me water or a charger.
And whilst I make effort to give five stars and a tip for these drivers, I shouldn't feel the need to award someone for not being creepy.
With Waymo, there is none of this anxiety.
You unlock the car from your phone, get in and a safety demo is explained to you, the screen constantly shows what is around the car, the doors are locked for the duration of the journey, you can contact customer service by simply asking.
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Once your ride is finished, you just shut the door and watch the vehicle drive off
Credit: Cyann Fielding
All of these safety measures are then enhanced by measures that make your ride enjoyable - a fun, upbeat voice, music options and even the joke that "you can sing as loud as you like because no one will hear you".
Essentially, my experience was a safe, comforting private karaoke room on wheels.
No complaints - even despite the slightly-higher-than-Uber price - just one satisfied customer.
Driverless taxis don't just offer a tourist experience, they offer a haven away from questionable drivers and forced conversations.
Uber self-driving robotaxis are due to come to UK roads NEXT YEAR.
Last year, a British driverless car firm also raised $1bn from investors in Europe's biggest AI deal to date.

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NBC News

2 hours ago

• NBC News

What to expect when (or if) Elon Musk launches a Tesla robotaxi service

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been promising self-driving cars for a decade, and the moment of truth may finally be here. Musk, who's mostly back in the private sector after his chain saw-wielding turn in the Trump administration, has said that Tesla plans to launch a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. Though he said the exact day could still shift, Tesla appears to be getting close to making an attempt, with videos spreading online of road tests where no human is in the driver's seat. But Tesla is also starting from behind. Waymo, a spinoff of Google, is already running a robotaxi service in several cities including Austin, and the service has a growing following. Safety remains a key question. Musk has rejected the idea of using radar and lidar sensors on Tesla vehicles, instead relying on cameras in a departure from some rivals. He has said the Tesla robotaxis are using a ' new version of software ' that's relatively untested. Federal regulators have been raising concerns about Tesla's driver-assistance software for more than a year, saying it contributed to hundreds of avoidable crashes, including some fatal crashes. Waymo's service has not reported any fatalities. Here's what to expect from Tesla's planned service. When will it start? Musk said this month that the robotaxi launch would be, 'Tentatively, June 22.' Musk has predicted for years that autonomous Tesla vehicles were just around the corner, to the point where it's become a meme. Musk told Fortune magazine in 2015 that autonomy was two years away, and he said in 2019 that Tesla would have 1 million robotaxis on the roads in 2020. Texas Democrats on Wednesday asked Tesla to delay its launch until September, when a new state law could take effect and require robotaxi operators to obtain a state permit. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. Who will be able to use this service? Very few people, at least to start. Musk has said that the service will begin very small, with as few as 10 vehicles the first week. They'll operate in Austin, but Tesla hasn't said how large its service area will be. There is no public waitlist, although Musk has said he wants to grow the service within a few months to catch up to Waymo. On Friday, some people on Musk's social media app X posted screenshots of what appeared to be invitations to 'early access of Tesla Robotaxi.' Robotaxi services work like a Lyft or Uber ride-hail service: A user orders a ride on a phone app by entering their starting point and destination. The key difference is that there's no one in the driver's seat, although it's not clear whether Tesla will have someone in the front passenger seat, as it has during test drives, or how much remote control of the car Tesla will have. How does this compare with Waymo? Waymo says its service covers 37 square miles in Austin, and customers there can order rides through the Uber app, in a partnership between the two tech companies. Waymo is also available in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Atlanta, with plans to expand to Miami and elsewhere. Nationwide, Waymo says it has 1,500 vehicles on the road, plus parking lots, electric charging stations, maintenance staff and engineers to support the vehicles. 'Waymo is far and away the leader of the development of the technology here, and over the last 15 years has been evolving both the technology and related infrastructure to support what they're doing,' said Bryan Reimer, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Transportation and Logistics. Tesla is calling its service Robotaxi, but so far the company has not succeeded in getting a trademark for the term. How safe will Tesla robotaxis be? Experts say that no one knows how safe Tesla's service will be. 'I'm glad they're starting small,' said Greg Stevens, the research director of Mcity, a testing lab for autonomous technology at the University of Michigan. 'As an engineer, I'm a real fan of small launches. Keep it simple in the beginning: launch a small number of vehicles and watch them very, very closely,' he said. Phil Koopman, an associate professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, said that only a driving record over tens of millions of miles will determine Tesla's safety. 'Success is no crashes and no serious mishaps for the rest of the year, at least,' he said. 'Safety is not something where you can go look at the car and see that it's safe.' Tesla has a different approach to safety than its chief competitor. While Waymo uses a combination of cameras, radar and lidar to keep its bearings, Tesla relies on cameras only. It's an approach that Musk says is less expensive and 'superior' to using lidar, while federal regulators have said that Tesla's cameras may have trouble seeing in certain conditions such as fog and glaring sun. Musk has said that Tesla is 'being super paranoid about safety.' He has also said a more advanced version of Tesla's autonomy software 'still requires a lot of polishing.' Can Tesla just do this? Who has approved it? Texas has had relatively permissive laws about autonomous vehicles: Unlike in California, there's no state regulator in Texas that needs to sign off on the service. That may change in September, when a proposed Texas law requiring robotaxi operators to get authorization from the Department of Motor Vehicles is set to take effect. The bill has passed the state House and Senate and is awaiting action by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. If Tesla launches Sunday and Abbott signs the bill into law, it's not clear what would happen under the new law this fall. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles said Friday that the department would need time to put the law into effect and begin enforcement, a process that would most likely stretch into next year. Austin city officials also say they're prohibited under state law from regulating autonomous vehicles, but they have been documenting examples of safety concerns. In the first five months of this year, the city said it collected data on 35 safety incidents, such as blocking traffic, involving various companies. Austin officials said that as of Friday, they had not documented any safety incidents involving Tesla autonomous vehicles. 'The City treats each AV company that expresses interest in Austin the same, offering training opportunities and providing information about City right-of-way and procedure,' Jack Flagler, a spokesperson for the Austin transportation department, said in an email. 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And eventually, Musk has said that individual Tesla owners would be able to offer their vehicles for hire in the robotaxi service, but he has not set a date for when that might happen. 'How long did it take Waymo to scale up? Years and years and years. And there's no reason to believe it will be different for Tesla,' Koopman said. What will the impact on Tesla as a company be? The scheduled launch of the robotaxi service has helped to buoy Tesla's stock price in recent months, after the company's sales and profits cratered during Musk's time in the Trump administration and the resulting 'Tesla Takedown' protests against him and the company. Some investors think Tesla will be able to scale up its service quickly to dozens of cities over the next year, creating a new source of revenue while possibly also boosting vehicle sales. Some experts think that is the main point of the robotaxi launch. 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Scottish Sun

7 hours ago

• Scottish Sun

Map reveals UK's 10 most stressful junctions including a high-accident intersection & infamous ‘Magic Roundabout'

Top ranked junction takes on some 10,000 vehicles every hour on average Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) The UK's most stressful junctions have been ranked and rated - each infamous for causing numerous problems for motorists. Scrap Car Comparison recently surveyed 1,000 UK drivers and asked them to rank road layouts based on feelings of confusion, anxiety, fear and confidence. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 London's Hanger Lane Gyratory tops the list as the UK's most stressful junction, with its complex layout and high accident rate Credit: Alamy 3 Swindon's Magic Roundabout is a multi-mini roundabout system that confuses many but surprisingly boasts a strong safety record Credit: Getty 3 Drivers can navigate the Magic Roundabout's central island in an anticlockwise direction, adding to its unique complexity Credit: Alamy These responses were then used to build a unique 'Stress Score' out of 100 - helping reveal the road layouts that most vehicle owners would rather avoid. London's mind-boggling Hanger Lane Gyratory came on top as the most stressful to navigate. The gyratory - which is essentially a large, circular intersection - is located in the north of the Ealing borough in West London and serves as a major junction where the A40 (Western Avenue) and the A406 (North Circular Road) intersect, with the A40 passing underneath in a tunnel. It also connects to Ealing Road towards Wembley. Outrageously complex, the confusing layout boasts a high accident rate and often causes a bottleneck for traffic At peak times, it's known to take on some 10,000 vehicles per hour - making it not only very busy but also quite intimidating. The infamous Magic Roundabout in Swindon followed closely behind in second place. A multi-mini roundabout system, the roundabout - which gets its name from the popular British children's television show, "The Magic Roundabout" - is made up of five mini roundabouts arranged in a circle around a central island. Though the mini roundabouts are all driven in a standard clockwise movement, it is possible to navigate the central island in an anticlockwise direction. But despite being wildly confusing, the Magic Roundabout boasts a surprisingly good safety record - with only 14 serious accidents and approximately 100 minor incidents over the last 25 years. Chilling moment thieves steal car with wireless device in seconds as new doc reveals how Brit motors end up in Lithuania UK's top 10 most stressful junctions Hanger Lane Gyratory - London (Stress Score: 44/100) Magic Roundabout - Swindon (Stress Score: 42/100) Cromer Road & Boundary Road Junction - Norwich (Stress Score: 40/100) The Crooked Billet Interchange - Waltham Forest (Stress Score: 38/100) Ynysforgan Roundabout - Swansea (Stress Score: 38/100) Black Cat Roundabout - Bedfordshire (Stress Score: 38/100) Larne Road Roundabout - Ballymena (Stress Score: 36/100) Shalesmoor & Netherthorpe Road Roundabout - Sheffield (Stress Score: 36/100) Springwell Road & Queen Alexandra Road Junction - Sunderland (Stress Score: 35/100) Sheriffhall Roundabout - Edinburgh (Stress Score: 35/100) TRAVELLING PAINS Scrap Car Comparison not only ranked the most stressful junctions in the UK but also created a global leaderboard, ranking some of the world's most anxiety-inducing intersections. For globe-trotting drivers, it might be best to avoid the Meskel Square Roundabout in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which picked up a Stress Score of 56 out of100. Meskel Square lacks basic road markings and formal traffic control, relying instead on driver intuition… and honking. Despite appearances, it's functional for locals but is known for being deeply unnerving for outsiders. The Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange in Los Angeles, a towering 8-level highway structure, came in close behind in second place with a score of 51/100. This score was matched by Paris' Arc de Triomphe roundabout, known for its 12 converging avenues and reversed right-of-way rules. Indeed, Europe features heavily in the rankings - with five of the top ten most stressful junctions located across the continent - with Paris, Rome, Madrid and London all making the list. Matt Clamp, Customer Service Manager at Scrap Car Comparison, said: 'Driving through unfamiliar junctions can rattle even the most experienced motorists. 'Junctions often combine high traffic volumes, poor signage and confusing layouts, making preparation essential. 'Our advice? Start by planning ahead, tools such as Street View or route planners can help you visualise the road before you set off. 'Once you're behind the wheel, try to get into the correct lane early by watching for signs and markings. 'If you start to feel overwhelmed, take a breath and don't let other road users rush you - it's perfectly okay to go at your own pace. 'Always signal clearly and confidently to show your intentions, especially if you need to change lanes. 'And if you're really nervous, consider driving at quieter times of day when the roads are less busy. 'A little preparation can go a long way in turning a potentially stressful drive into a safe and confident journey.'

Scottish Sun

13 hours ago

• Scottish Sun

Users of Facebook app must make important change now to avoid private chats going PUBLIC

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) META AI, which has been woven into the Facebook and WhatsApp experience, might be making your private conversations with the chatbot public. The standalone Meta AI app prompts users to choose to post publicly in the app's Discovery feed by default, a recent report by TechRadar warned. 2 When users tap "Share" and "Post to feed," they are sharing their conversations with strangers all around the world Credit: Alamy 2 Fortunately, you can opt out of having your conversations go public completely through the Meta AI app's settings Credit: Alamy When users tap "Share" and "Post to feed," they are sharing their conversations with strangers all around the world. It is much like a public Facebook post, the report added. The Discovery feed is plastered with AI-generated images, as well as text conversations. There's no telling how private these interactions can be - from talking through your relationship woes to drafting a eulogy. "I've scrolled past people asking Meta AI to explain their anxiety dreams, draft eulogies, and brainstorm wedding proposals," the report wrote. "It's voyeuristic, and not in the performative way of most social media; it's real and personal." Meta has a new pop-up warning users that agreeing for their AI chats to land on the Discovery page means strangers can view them. These conversation snippets aren't just for themselves or their friends to see. However, accidental sharing remains a possibility. TechRadar noted that these conversations may even appear elsewhere on Meta platforms, like Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram. Meta's top VR boss predicts AI-powered future with no phones, brain-controlled ovens and virtual TVs that only cost $1 Fortunately, you can opt out of having your conversations go public completely through the Meta AI app's settings. Here's how you can make sure your chats aren't at risk of being shared publicly: Open the Meta AI app. Tap your account icon, i.e. your profile picture or initials. Next, click on Data and Privacy and then tap Manage Your Information. and then tap Then toggle on Make all public prompts visible to only you , and then Apply to all in the pop-up. This will ensure that when you share a prompt, only you will be able to see it. , and then in the pop-up. To go one step further, you can erase all records of any interaction you've had with Meta AI. To do this, simply tap Delete all prompts in this same section of the Meta AI app's settings. This will wipe any prompt you've written, regardless of whether it's been posted, from the app. It's worth noting that even though you have opted out Of course, even with the opt-out enabled and your conversations with Meta AI no longer public, Meta still retains the right to use your chats to improve its models.