Self-Driving Semis Add Human Backup Amid Prototype Concerns

The company Aurora is backtracking on plans to launch a fully driverless truck in Texas — and putting a driver back in their driverless cars.

The self-driving truck company announced plans last month to send its first fully driverless vehicle to drive along a stretch of highway between Dallas and Houston.

Aurora said their partner PACCAR, which manufactures the trucks, requested a backup driver in the vehicle due to concerns about “certain prototype parts in their base vehicle platform.”

However, Aurora maintained that they are confident in the safety of their operations.

“We are confident this is not required to operate the truck safely based on the exhaustive testing (covering nearly 10,000 requirements and 2.7 million tests) and, after much consideration, we respected their request and are moving the observer, who has been riding in the back of some of our trips, from the back seat to the front seat,” a spokesperson for Aurora said in a press release.

The Aurora vehicle will still be responsible for all driving operations, but a driver will be present in the vehicle as a backup.

Aurora said the decision has no bearing on future development plans, such as their recent statement signaling they plan to send out their vehicles to El Paso and Phoenix, Ariz., by the end of 2025.

“This change has no impact on our near, mid and long-term development plans,” the company said in a press release.

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