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Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

sfgate.com

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Re: Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

#11

Post by km3r »

So the scenario (as described by waymo, surely with some spin):

"Driving through a 4 way intersection, while a large truck is also going through the intersection. As you go through, a biker quickly passes behind the truck with minimal time to react once in sightlines."

A human driver would take significantly longer to react, and could be deadly.

Waymo managed to hit the breaks before the collision, potentially leading to only minor scrapes. Feels much better than human would fare in a similar scenario.

What I hope Waymo learbx for this, as well applies as similar scenarios: never cross through these zones of high bike traffic when the obstruction from another vehicle prevents a wide enough view to brake before this zone.

Re: Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

#12

Post by huytersd »

tessierashpool wrote: post #4
artninja1988 wrote: post #2

> According to Waymo, the company’s vehicle fully stopped at a four-way intersection before proceeding into the intersection as a large truck was driving through in the opposite direction. “The cyclist was occluded by the truck and quickly followed behind it, crossing into the Waymo vehicle’s path,” the company said in a statement. “When they became fully visible, our vehicle applied heavy braking but was not able to…

very surprising that Waymo would describe the accident in terms that blame the other party

Why? If you don’t follow the rules of the road the cyclist is to blame. Now what Waymo needs to do to avoid this in the future is a whole other discussion…

Re: Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

#13

Post by nerdponx »

km3r wrote: post #11

So the scenario (as described by waymo, surely with some spin): "Driving through a 4 way intersection, while a large truck is also going through the intersection. As you go through, a biker quickly passes behind the truck with minimal time to react once in sightlines." A human driver would take significantly longer to react, and could be deadly. Waymo managed to hit the breaks before the collision, potentially leadin…

Let's wait until there's a neutral 3rd-party description.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a35844915/ntsb-letter-nhts...

Re: Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

#14

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

digbybk wrote: post #9
monkaiju wrote: post #3

Cant believe these things are allowed on the road...

What’s the relative likelihood that a waymo car will hit a cyclist or pedestrian vs a human operated car? Unfortunately for us cyclists, people are hit by human drivers every day.

I can’t believe those things are allowed on the road!

Re: Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

#17

Post by anArbitraryOne »

topkai22 wrote: post #5

I looked up the cited street in street view- there are stop signs in all 4 directions. I look forward to the full accident report, but from the evidence available it sounds like the cyclist didn’t stop at the sign appropriately.

[flagged]

Re: Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

#18

Post by mewpmewp2 »

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #14
digbybk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the relative likelihood that a waymo car will hit a cyclist or pedestrian vs a human operated car? Unfortunately for us cyclists, people are hit by human drivers every day.

I can’t believe those things are allowed on the road!

I can't believe we have roads in the first place. It is the invention of the romans. And what good have they ever done for us?

Re: Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

#19

Post by kbar13 »

anArbitraryOne wrote: post #17
topkai22 wrote: post #5

I looked up the cited street in street view- there are stop signs in all 4 directions. I look forward to the full accident report, but from the evidence available it sounds like the cyclist didn’t stop at the sign appropriately.

[flagged]

i think cyclists should have equal share of the road and should be protected but for whatever reason cyclists in SF seem to think the rules don't apply to only them and will get militant if you breath the wrong way.

Re: Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

#20

Post by ugh123 »

km3r wrote: post #11

So the scenario (as described by waymo, surely with some spin): "Driving through a 4 way intersection, while a large truck is also going through the intersection. As you go through, a biker quickly passes behind the truck with minimal time to react once in sightlines." A human driver would take significantly longer to react, and could be deadly. Waymo managed to hit the breaks before the collision, potentially leadin…

>What I hope Waymo learbx for this, as well applies as similar scenarios: never cross through these zones of high bike traffic when the obstruction from another vehicle prevents a wide enough view to brake before this zone.

I hope it's as simple as that, and that regulators will understand just how little fine-tuning could yield substantial safety increases not possible with human drivers.

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