Facepalm: San Francisco has been experiencing issues with autonomous taxis for at the very least a 12 months, with authorities and others reporting quite a few incidents. The most recent glitch inflicting public inconvenience comes simply as two firms gained the suitable to function autonomous automobiles within the metropolis across the clock.
A fleet of self-driving vehicles from taxi firm Cruise just lately grew to become stuck in the midst of three San Francisco streets, inflicting a large visitors jam. It is the second time Cruise robotaxis have blocked visitors, supposedly on account of a software program glitch.
The latest jam that gained essentially the most consideration occurred in North Seashore. Movies on social media depict at the very least a number of self-driving vehicles stopped in the midst of the road with their hazard lights blinking. Human drivers may be seen caught behind and between the robotaxis.
Cruise responded by claiming that a big close by competition consumed a lot community bandwidth that it interrupted the car connectivity. If true, the incident may expose community circumstances as a probably vital weak spot for self-driving vehicles.
Different Cruise automobiles grew to become motionless on Balboa Avenue and thirtieth Avenue across the identical time, stopping individuals from leaving the Golden Gate Park music competition and inflicting street closures between Balboa and Anza streets. A police officer efficiently drove one automotive out of the jam however could not achieve entry to the others.
Hello @friscolive415 – A big competition posed wi-fi bandwidth constraints inflicting delayed connectivity to our automobiles. We’re actively investigating and dealing on options to forestall this from taking place once more. We apologize to those that have been impacted.
– cruise (@Cruise) August 12, 2023
The corporate’s robotaxis triggered an analogous visitors jam final July when at the very least 5 vehicles inexplicably stopped in the midst of an intersection. Cruise had no thought what triggered the disruption. The incident was one in all virtually 100 troublesome occurrences involving autonomous vehicles that metropolis authorities reported between Could and December 2022. In a few of these, firefighters stated that the automobiles obstructed their work. Emergency companies additionally complained of wasted time and assets when Cruise employees referred to as 911 after passengers fell asleep in its robotaxis.
Some activists began taking drastic steps to voice their displeasure with the rising expertise. Protected Avenue Insurgent, an anti-autonomous automotive group, started sabotaging self-driving automobiles by inserting visitors cones on their hoods, forcing them to cease. The group is towards self-driving vehicles on account of security and surveillance considerations, because the robotaxis function utilizing a number of cameras. The protest is a part of an effort to make roads safer for bikers and pedestrians whereas encouraging extra funding for public transportation.
Regardless of the studies and protests, California just lately granted autonomous rideshare firms Cruise and Waymo permission to function their automobiles 24 hours a day. Extra incidents and demonstrations are prone to happen.
