Los robotaxis of GM Cruise y Waymo have caused several incidents with the police y firefighters of San Franciscowho have requested by letter to the authorities that remove them from circulation.
San Francisco is home to many technology companies, so the Californian city was one of the first to approve the use of autonomous taxis without a driver, or robotaxis.
Through an app, any citizen can request an autonomous taxi from GM’s Cruise company, or Alphabet’s Waymo (Google).
The experience seems to have gone well on the subject of traffic accidents, since none have occurred, but they have caused enormous inconvenience and danger to the police and the firefighters of San Francisco
Robotaxis, naps and hoses
According to Wired, the San Francisco Transportation Agency has sent a letter to the California Public Business Commission to remove from circulation to the robotaxisbecause you think that are not yet ready to operate.
The letter cites several incidents that occurred during the month of December, which have endangered the lives of several firefightersand have caused unjustified expenses to the citizens.
First, police received in December three notices of Cruise to go to review an autonomous taxi where the passenger gave no signs of life. When they got to the car, they found that all of them were… taking a nap.
All autonomous cars Cruise have a speaker to communicate with the passengers, but despite calling them repeatedly, none of the occupants in the three incidents reacted to the notice. Either Cruise’s speakers are underpowered, or what they need is install an alarm clock o A mermaid in the cars…
“Taxpayer-paid emergency response resources used for non-emergencies hurt citizens in real need,” the letter states.
The incidents with firefighters they are more serious. Two different cases are cited where the autonomous taxis did not recognize the hose who was crossing the street, to put out a fire. In one of them the robotaxi collided with the hose, knocking the firefighters to the ground. In the other one several robotaxis ran over the hose while it was being used in an emergency situation.
Other altercations are also included where the autonomous car I had parked in front of a fire hydrant.
They all seem like easy problems to fix. We’ll see if Cruise and Waymo fix them before the authorities decide to take away their registration.
Los incidents of the robotaxis con police and the firefighters of San Francisco seem to be specific problems in circumstances that the creators of the software had not taken into account, such as a hose crossing the road. The controversy is that a city is being used as a test track, and some of those incidents could have caused serious injuries.
