Maybe this is why China will succeed to be the first to have level 5 self driving.
Autonomous vehicles endanger everybody around them. If electric, those vehicles weigh well over 2 tonnes and have the potential to kill people even inside other vehicles.
"Some of you may die but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make" is not a good motto.
Of course we do. You can go to a grocery store and buy plenty sugary drinks to kill yourself slowly.
Or you can buy a car and drive full speed into a wall.
Or you can join a fitness cult and excercise so much you die from it.
Or to stay at topic you can build your own airplane. The unnoficial motto of the faa experimental regulations is that everyone is entitled to pick their own funeral. The regulations are not designed to keep you safe, but to keep others safe.
But it’s clear we do this “for your own good” falsely often.
So yeah, their risk tolerance is probably higher :)
>> The vast majority of robotaxi operations use safety drivers. Driverless robotaxis trials have emerged in the last year and will grow. Driverless robotaxis have teleoperation-based remote operation as a backup for a safety driver.
In terms of your analogy that's as if the Wright brothers only "flew" in the sense that Orvil carried Wilbur on his back while Wilbur flapped his arms and yelled "I'm flying!".
Western efforts aren't any better. It's not regulation that's keeping anything back. It's the lack of a clear path towards convincing "autonomous" technology.
But you can order any modern car, place the sensors and let Mobileye control the car.
Udelv Ink is planning to implement it in 36000 delivery vehicles.
You can also buy a level 4 shuttle from Navya if you like.