Waymo suspends service in San Francisco after driverless cars cause traffic jams during blackout

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/waymo-suspended-san-francisco-traffic-jams-blackout-b2888562.html

11 Comments

  1. Surprised that they would be so thrown off by broken traffic lights, which are a relatively common occurrence. 

    A good example of how the underlying technology does not actually “understand” the world it’s in, and relies on a predictable environment/operating conditions to be reliable. 

  2. What is so hard about paying a driver? Spending millions of dollars to make a car autonomous but can’t afford to pay an employee. What is it about tech companies that want to automate everything? Oh, I know, more profit for the execs.

  3. Saw a Waymo fully push a guy out of his lane as it was pulling out of a parking spot, like the Waymo never even saw him.

  4. In situations like these they should programed to ‘park themselves’ and get the #&@* OFF the streets and OUT of the way of emergency and other vehicles. This is a MAJOR flaw and should be addressed immediately before they are allowed back on the roads. Get it done ASAP, and keep them off the roads until this issue has been addressed.

  5. I like now they’re saying “paused service” instead of saying it BROKE. Their cars were just abandoned in the middle of the roads with no way to move them.

  6. I drove across SF to get home last night and saw quite a few Waymos stuck at intersections where the traffic lights were out. In some cases, they were stopped at the intersection blocking the lane, while others had pulled over but still were blocking traffic.

    One intersection had two Waymos side by side blocking both lanes in one direction and they did not respond to honking. I had to drive into the oncoming traffic lane to go around them.

    At another intersection where the light was out, a Waymo just blew through without stopping despite everyone else taking turns.

  7. I live here and it was a shit show last night. Dozens of Waymo’s blocking entire streets comatose for hours. It was a complete mess, disrupting multiple bus lines and one way streets.

    Loathe these things. Hope this is what makes people finally realize they’re a pain in the ass and far from what they claim to be.