TLDR: An autonomous vehicle blocking a whole lane of traffic for at +15 minutes, because it couldn't understand why it couldn't turn onto Valencia Street on a Saturday.
Every Saturday between 2-9pm, a few blocks of Valencia Street become pedestrian only. The street becomes filled with pedestrians and orange cones are put down to prevent cars from entering these few blocks. This empty Waymo was driving east on 18th street and wanted to turn left on Valencia, which was closed. It's only option at this intersection was to drive straight for a block or two and turn on any other street other than Valencia. Each time the light turned green it would each forward a little bit, then move back, then start trying to go forward again.
Some folks told me the car had been stuck for at least 5 minutes before I arrived. If this autonomous vehicle was completely stopped, it would have been far safer for other cars to move around it. But each time the light turned green, the Waymo would do it's dumb little dance back and forth while
A Waymo employee eventually arrived and stepped into the drivers seat to drive the car across the intersection.
There are hundreds of videos like this on RU-vid, this is just one more to add to the mix. These cars create unsafe streets through actions like this all the time. If they can't figure out how to cross Valencia street without the help of a human driver, then they shouldn't be allowed on our streets without a paid employee who can take over whenever the cars get stuck.
22 авг 2024
