07/03/2023   English German
  Edition # 149  
San Francisco, 07-03-2023

Autonomous Driving as a Reality

Quite normal: Self-driving cars in San Francisco

Michael On the streets of San Francisco, we're experiencing almost futuristic scenes recently. Initially skeptically received, but now fully accepted by the drivers, more and more self-driving cars are mixing into the dense city traffic. The first time I came to a stop an intersection next to one of these cars equipped with conspicuous cameras and glanced over, I couldn't believe my eyes: the driver's seat was empty and there was nobody else in the car. When the light turned green, we both drove off, at pretty decent speed.

I really have to say that these cars drive amazingly well. To that you have to know that 90% of Californians drive like twelve year olds. I know people who spent 200,000 dollars on BMWs but can't even parallel park. When you're at an intersection with four stop signs, there's always someone who's supposed to go first, but it's quite common that no one does at first, and then everyone starts going at the same time and the honking begins.

I have had several encounters with Google-operated self-driving Waymo cars in city traffic, and every time I was amazed at how well their driving computer handled complex situations. Cars from the company Cruise, backed by General Motors, are also driving around at a similar level. Once I arrived at a 4-way stop at the same time as a Waymo car, and I thought to myself, "Oho, let's see what happens now". A second later, the Waymo car cautiously entered the intersection, just like a human driver who is on the ball would do.
Figure [1]: At night, Waymo cars work as driverless taxis.

Once I saw that on the opposite lane of a two-lane but not particularly wide street, a cyclist was coming towards me, behind him a Waymo vehicle followed by a line of cars that didn't dare to overtake because the road was too narrow. I drove a bit further to the right on my side to make room, and suddenly the Waymo car came over, crossed the center line by half a meter and overtook the cyclist safely and smoothly. No driver in San Francisco, would have dared to do that, and I was surprised that it had been taught to the driving computer. Hats off!

Figure [2]: Self driving Waymo cars are quite common In our neighborhood.

You can also hire the driverless vehicles as cabs. Download the app "Waymo-One" or the competitor's "Cruise" onto your phone and then book the ride like with Uber or Lyft. However, this business is currently only allowed to the two companies in the middle of the night. The city of San Francisco has only issued the permit between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am.

It is a bit creepy to get into a driverless car, but friends have told me that they arrived safely at their destination after booking a ride. Self-driving cars, by the way, take strange routes through the city. Because it is technically easier to turn right than left, they do not choose the shortest routes, but those without left turns. So they take detours that a human driver would probably not choose.

So far there has been not a single serious accident. As usual, some old-fashioned hippies in our city are up in arms against the innovation, as recently when there was a shootout with nine injured in San Francisco's Mission district. In the aftermath, a self-driving car stopped and didn't go any further in the vicinity of the crime, even when an ambulance demanded to get through. Left-leaning city councils took to their Twitter accounts and were more upset about the car than the shooting itself!

Recently, a Waymo car ran over a dog that had broken away from its owner and had run out onto the street from behind a car. Well, that happens, even with human drivers, but when it comes to robotaxis, the complainers start complaining. The technology will still come anyways, and it rest assured that it has my blessing.

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