Robotaxi maker Waymo has been in trouble lately, thanks to its cars’ habit of conveniently not noticing the brightly flashing stop signs on school buses. However, it turns out that Waymo cars have an opposite issue that’s just as bad: when faced with an intersection without functional traffic lights, Waymos seem to simply freeze and attract their hazards. The city of San Francisco discovered this problem last weekend, when a major power outage in the city caused groups of autonomous cars to stall at intersections, choking up traffic in front of people.
The San Francisco blackout, which is still ongoing days after it began, began when a Pacific Gas and Electric Company substation in the city’s Mission district caught fire. At one point, about a third of PG&E’s customers in San Francisco were without power, including many networks that operate traffic lights — signals that robotaxis apparently rely on. People may not be great at intersections where there are suddenly no traffic lights, but at least we know to treat the situation like a four-way stop. According to Automotive News, Waymo apparently hasn’t taught its cars the same trick.
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Not a great look for Waymo
Videos from San Francisco show Waymo’s autonomous cars just stopped, with their hazards on, in the middle of lanes and intersections. They don’t seem to make any effort to get out of their predicament, or to get out of the way of drivers who can actually navigate a power outage – they just sit there, menacing. Passengers stuck at those intersections, in those stationary cars, couldn’t even reach Waymo support by phone. Eventually the AV operator gave up and stopped service for the entire Bay Area.
Power outages are of course a strange occurrence, but roads are full of strange occurrences. Anyone who wants to drive a car must be equipped to deal with unforeseen situations. This outage in San Francisco is a reminder that autonomous cars are still learning, still collecting data, and still not ready for prime time. They just practice on the same public streets where you drive and walk, so you might be caught behind a street while he learns to navigate something new.
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