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A self-driving Robotaxi reportedly blocked emergency vehicles during a mass shooting [1]
['Thom Dunn']
Date: 2023-06-13
On Friday night, June 10, nine people were wounded in a shooting in the Mission District in San Francisco. When emergency responders arrived on the scene, they discovered a Cruise RoboTaxi sitting in the middle of the street — preventing emergency vehicles from getting through to the victims. From The Guardian:
Fellow Mission friends. Please stay away from 24th/Folsom. Gunshots fired; reckless Cruise cars. pic.twitter.com/fICRtS6e05 — Paul Valdez 🚲🏳️🌈 (@paulvaldezsf) June 10, 2023
Emergency crews were responding to a shooting on 24th Street shortly after 9pm in which nine people were injured. In a video posted to Twitter, a Cruise self-driving car is seen in the road as an officer approaches it and says it's "blocking emergency medical and fire. I've got to get it out of here now."
A spokesperson for the GM-owned Cruise robotaxi service replied on Twitter, insisting that their self-driving vehicle was just trying to pull a uey.
(2/3) Our car initially stopped as it was approaching an active emergency scene, then proceeded to perform a U-turn and pull over. Throughout this time, all vehicles, including emergency response vehicles, were able to proceed around our car. — cruise (@Cruise) June 10, 2023
Another Cruise spokesperson later clarified that one of their employees arrived on the scene within a half hour to manually move the car. By that point, however, the vehicle had already been surrounded by police tape. None of which sounds like a u-turn to me!
This isn't the first time Cruise robotaxis have blocked road access during an emergency, either. Back in March, CNBC reported that several Cruise cars stalled in the aftermath of a torrential rainstorm. Apparently the downed trees and telephone wires threw their sensors into overdrive, causing them to panic and just sort of bumble around.
More weather drama in my neighborhood. 2 driverless cars didnt detect 1) the caution tape blocking my street and 2) the down @SFMTA_Muni wires. Now theyre tangled up like flies in sticky traps. 🌧 🤷🏽♂️ 🌧 @SFGate @kron4news @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/cLdGjvorRE — John-Phillip 🐳 (@PopRag) March 22, 2023
Cruise robotaxi appears to hinder emergency crews after mass shooting [Rose Horowitch / The Guardian]
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