Robotaxis are increasingly becoming a common sight in various U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin. However, their presence raises concerns about how these autonomous vehicles will navigate streets during emergencies, such as fires or major accidents.

In response, Seattle is actively working on a solution to ensure that emergency information is quickly relayed to robotaxis. Armand Shahbazian, the electric and automated mobility policy advisor at the Seattle Department of Transportation, emphasizes the importance of this initiative.

Cities like Seattle experience up to 800 emergency dispatches daily. Currently, when someone calls 911 in cities that have deployed robotaxis, the dispatcher logs the type and location of the emergency and sends an email to th

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