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Report from the self-driving car front line... [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-06-10
People not in SF need to know what we’re seeing and experiencing here as, unless something drastic happens, these cars are coming to a street near you, soon. No, self-driving cars are not up there with climate chaos and the extinction crisis in importance but, in my experiences with them so far, they are utterly undependable, unpredictable, and dangerous.
For example, Friday night, there was a mass shooting at 24th St and Trent. Here’s an article on info so far. But here’s the relevant part re. self-driving cars, in the reporting from the SF Standard:
A Cruise self-driving car blocked emergency medical access to the scene, according to a witness who filmed the incident and posted footage to Twitter. In the video, a police officer could be seen and heard shouting at the robotaxi to move away as it was blocking emergency medical and fire access. The Cruise car was approximately one block away from the crime scene at the time the video was recorded. "All of a sudden, there were cops, fire engines, and ambulances heading down Folsom toward 24th," said Paul Valdez, who recorded the incident. "The Cruise car just stopped on Folsom. An officer got out of his car and started pounding on the window, yelling at the car to get off the street and get out of the way."
But, of course, with no driver there’s no one to hear you scream.
This is not a one-off incident. These cars do unpredictable and dangerous things with alarming frequency. There’s a decent round up about them on Slate available here, more damage in an article on SF Gate here, info on safety issues from Business Insider here, and here’s what our transit chief about these cars (as the state, meanwhile, seems perfectly fine with letting our public transit die.)
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/10/2174558/-Report-from-the-self-driving-car-front-line
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