While the American authorities have just authorized the use of robotaxis in the streets of San Francisco at all times, several malfunctions of these autonomous vehicles caused chaos last Friday in certain places in the metropolis. What confirm the fears of the detractors of these automated taxis.
Last week, the CUPC, the California public transport commission, gave its agreement to the companies Waymo (Google) and Cruise (General Motors) to let their robotaxis roam the streets of San Francisco at all hours. A surprising decision, while several incidents in recent months have clearly shown that the technology is not yet ready.
However, the day after the decision, August 10, an incident involving 10 cruise robotaxis wreaked havoc on an American city avenue. What confirm the fears of the detractors of these automated taxis. Specifically, last Friday evening, these 10 robotaxis suddenly stopped in the middle of Grant Avenuean important artery of the metropolis, causing the passages huge traffic jams for about twenty minutes.
Also read: Tesla plans to launch an autonomous robotaxi with a futuristic design
Cruise robotaxis wreak havoc in San Francisco
Several videos of the incident have been posted on social networks by local residents, where you can actually admire this fleet of robotaxis at a complete stop, hazard warning lights on. In the aftermath, Cruise explained himself on the X social network, stating that the problem was due “problems with wireless connectivity”. The company continues: “A major festival has imposed wireless bandwidth constraints causing a delay in the connection of our vehicles. We are actively investigating and working on solutions to prevent this from happening again. We apologize to those affected.”
For many detractors, Cruise’s justification does not hold up, with the festival being held dozens of miles from the scene of the incident. Aaron Peskin, an elected official from the city of San Francisco, said he received several complaints from his constituents that night. In his view, the Commission deliberately dismissed the concerns of the population and the local political class. “Why does the federal commission think it’s okay to put people in danger and cause chaos on our streets? We warned them and they refused to listen to us,” he slams on X.
A danger to the safety of the inhabitants according to this elected official
For politics, these incidents are indicative of the danger posed by these robotaxis: “What that means to me is that in the event of a cellphone outage, a power outage, or a natural disaster like the one we just saw in Lahaina, these cars could clog our streets just when we would need to deploy emergency vehicles”, he told ABC7 News.
As a reminder, in April 2023, several Waymo robotaxis created a huge traffic jam in San Francisco precisely because… fog. Bad weather conditions messed up the sensors of the self-driving vehicles, which simply chose to stop in place.
Source: The Guardian