Waymo is accelerating its rollout of robotaxis in the U.S., recently adding four new cities in Texas and Florida as self-driving technology begins to penetrate mainstream America.

Why it matters: In Detroit, Waymo says it is currently testing autonomously with a trained specialist at the wheel and plans to transition to fully autonomous operations later this year, though it has not said when rides will be available to the public.

The big picture: Armed with $16 billion in fresh capital from parent Alphabet and others, Waymo is quickly extending its lead over other players like Tesla and Amazon-owned Zoox, which are still mostly in testing mode.

The newest markets are Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando.

• The service will start slowly, with riders invited on a rolling basis until Waymo adds more cars to its fleet and scales up necessary operations like vehicle charging, service and maintenance.
• By later this year, it will be more widely available, Waymo says.

By the numbers: Now in 10 cities, Waymo has doubled the number of markets it serves in a matter of months.

• It's laying the groundwork for service in at least 20 cities, and is on track to provide more than one million driverless rides per week by the end of the year.
• It has about 3,000 robotaxis deployed nationwide, more than one-third of them in the San Francisco Bay area.

What we're watching: Waymo's robotaxis are adapting quickly to new markets, but basic operational challenges — such as charging and maintenance — could constrain network growth.

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Misreading local politics could foil Waymo's ambitious growth plans, erasing the giant lead it has over competitors.

State of play: While self-driving cars are permitted in about half the country, the laws would have to be changed in places like Washington, D.C., and New York, where a human operator is still required behind the wheel.

Yes, but: Michigan is a different story.

• The state has a "very permissive" framework for autonomous vehicles, Henry Liu, director of Mcity at the University of Michigan, tells Axios.
• That means the bigger question in Detroit is less about state law than whether Waymo is ready to operate safely at scale in winter conditions.

In other states, the law is silent on driverless cars, which means it's open to interpretation — and debate.

What they're saying: "The biggest hurdle Waymo faces is not understanding local politics," says AV policy expert Grayson Brulte, founder and CEO of The Road to Autonomy, a strategic advisory firm.

• "They're going into markets where the policy is not ready yet," he said.
• It can take years to pass new legislation in many states, which could delay Waymo's plans.

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A Waymo robotaxi incident outside a California elementary school in January suggests an AI brain would react faster than a human, but it's not that simple.

The big picture: This incident fits into a much larger debate about whether autonomous vehicles can match — or exceed — the safety of human drivers.

• People fear self-driving cars, yet nearly 40,000 people are killed each year in traffic accidents involving human drivers.
• The answer to that question is crucial to winning the public's trust as robotaxis spread quickly across America.

Catch up quick: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating after a Waymo robotaxi struck a child who ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV.

• Police said first responders evaluated the student, with her parent present, and did not report any injuries.

The intrigue: Waymo claims its driverless vehicle behaved as expected, slamming the brakes as soon as it detected the child, slowing from 17 mph to under 6 mph before making contact.

• A "fully attentive human driver" in the same situation would have hit the child at approximately 14 mph, according to Waymo's computer modeling.
• "This significant reduction in impact speed and severity is a demonstration of the material safety benefit of the Waymo Driver, " the company wrote in a Jan. 28 blog post.

Reality check: Reacting quickly isn't the only way to avoid crashes, safety experts tell Axios. Context, judgment and driving experience matter, too.

• Young drivers have quicker reflexes, for example — but old drivers have much better safety records, notes AV safety expert Philip Koopman, emeritus professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
• A careful, competent human driver would have avoided a panic stop in the first place by adjusting their driving behavior amid the chaos of school drop-off — or taking a different route altogether, he argued.

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Axios Miami's Martin Vassolo tested one of the company's self-driving cars earlier this year in Little Havana.

His experience: The Waymo team set him up on a preplanned ride starting near a café and ending up at local park, taking about 30 minutes round-trip.

His review: It was a smooth and surprisingly human-like ride.

• He sat in the back seat as the electric Jaguar SUV (Waymo's standard car for Miami) navigated around intersections, pedestrians and stopped vehicles.
• What most surprised him — other than the sight of a steering wheel moving on its own — was how the car's AI brain reacted to obstacles in the road with assertive fluidity.

✅ Do's:

• Tap the tablet: The in-car screen allows passengers to control music, climate and ride functions.
• Wear your seatbelt. It's the right call in every ride ... but the Waymo won't start moving until you do buckle up.
• Try out the back right seat. You get a good view of the steering wheel spinning to make turns (if that sight doesn't freak you out).

❌ Don'ts

• Don't sit in the driver's seat. Feel free to sit shotgun, however.
• Don't touch the steering wheel or other driving controls. "Somebody from rider support will get on and say, 'Please don't do that,'" Waymo's Ethan Teicher told Axios.
• Don't smoke or vape in the car. You wouldn't do that with a human behind the wheel, would you?
• Don't expect the vehicle to speed. The vehicle follows the rules of the road and does not mimic other drivers' behaviors.