Ole Miss Attack Follow-up

APD files charges in Ole Miss student attack

Carson Otter (pictured with his mother) is expected to make a full recovery.

Photo courtesy of Candt Otter Facebook

KVUE — Police have filed charges against one man accused in the attack of an Ole Miss student that left that student, Carson Otter, with life-threatening injuries.

According to an arrest warrant, 25-year-old Joshua Medina Ramirez is accused of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury — a second-degree felony.

Back in September, 21-year-old Otter was in Austin for the Ole Miss game against the University of Texas.

After bars closed, Otter and some friends were on the corner of Trinity and Seventh Street when a silver Honda sedan pulled up to the light. Otter and two men inside the car exchanged words until two men got out of the car, one of which was Ramirez. Police say Ramirez confronted Otter, saying, "What did you say?" Police say Ramirez then punched Otter once in the face, causing him to fall backward and hit his head on the curb.

Otter was transported to University Medical Center Brackenridge with life-threatening head trauma.

The senior real estate finance major survived and is now doing rehabilitation to help with his recovery. Otter is expected to make a full recovery, one that doctors say is a miracle.

Ramirez's bond is set at $10,000.

---

To read the full story, please visit KVUE.com

unspecified

Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

traffic self-driving cars innovation