SF Standard – Waymo ride runs into high-speed sideshow, is saved by ‘grace of the Gods’
Editors note: and now Waymo’s are causing smoking! But certainly glad this article points out that it was luck that the Waymo did not get into a crash. They simply are not prepared for unexpected situations, such as sideshows.
See original article by Joe Burn at SF Standard
A routine Waymo ride to work turned into a harrowing near-miss for one San Francisco commuter when an illegal sideshow suddenly erupted in the robotaxi’s path.
The Friday morning ride began gently, cruising gently through San Francisco’s streets at the exact speed limit or less while bumping the passenger’s preferred Depeche Mode radio station.
The rider, social media administrator Chelsea Robinson, was being driven through the Mission around 6:50 a.m. when she encountered a driver performing high-speed “donuts” at Shotwell and 25th streets.
“I immediately panicked,” Robinson wrote on Reddit. “I can trust the Waymo, but I can’t trust this driver.”
The robotaxi proceeded into the intersection, she said; the two vehicles came within a foot of crashing before the sideshow driver screeched to a halt.
“By the grace of the Gods, the donut fella screeched to a halt about a foot from the Waymo car,” Robinson posted. “He looked at me and got upset, but I shrugged, and pointed to the invisible driver. He sped off in a huff. In my panicking, I had pressed the ‘contact support button’ and the agent connected just after the interaction.”
Shaken but unharmed, Robinson praised Waymo’s support team for its response to the incident. Despite the close call, she said she would keep using the autonomous ride-hailing service.
The incident highlights ongoing safety concerns as autonomous vehicles navigate unpredictable human behavior on city streets. The San Francisco Police Department was not called about the near-miss, Robinson said.
“The Waymo Driver can respond to a wide range of scenarios taking place in the environment in which it operates, from the mundane to the extraordinary,” a company spokesperson said when asked about the incident. “It can reason whether another road user is demonstrating anomalous behavior and respond accordingly.”
“I was okay!” Robinson wrote in the post. “Needed a cigarette before I got to work, but I was okay!”
See original article by Joe Burn at SF Standard
