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Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

sfchronicle.com

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Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#361

Post by elsonrodriguez »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #75
TigeriusKirk wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious why they can't pick up and drop off at exact locations, as long as the location is in their operating boundaries.

Human drivers are willing to break the law for pick ups and drop offs, and as a society we largely tolerate that as long as it's not egregious in terms of safety or blocking others. But programming a robot to deliberately break the law is uncomfortable for people to think about.

This might lead to a beneficial feedback loop for some traffic laws.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#362

Post by cco »

rootusrootus wrote: post #351
Karrot_Kream wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get around by bike, foot, transit, and car in that order and have mostly lost my ability to not get motion sick in a car when I'm not driving. I prefer taking Waymos any time I'm not in a hurry in SF, but usually traffic is bad enough during the hours I take it that it's not a huge factor anyway and if you can get a MUNI that's close to your start and end points, it's significantly faster. Rideshare and taxi driver…

> ability to not get motion sick in a car when I'm not driving. As someone who lives in a city without Waymo, I'm curious -- are you allowed to ride in the front seat? I can generally tolerate riding in the front passenger seat, as long as the driver is competent, but I suffer a bit riding in the rear. And don't get me started on what it's like riding in a limo...

Yes, you may sit in the front passenger seat. The only place you can't sit is the driver's seat.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#363

Post by bluejekyll »

pc86 wrote: post #333
bluejekyll wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something every new parent should learn (which some parts of car rides mimic), learn about the 4th trimester. Then learn the 5 S’s to mimic the womb: Swaddle - wrap the baby Side/stomache - position like the womb Shush - white noise Sway/swing - walking or bouncing Suck - a finger, a sucker, etc These were a life saver for my son. Most nights it was just swaddle + sway, on bad nights it took all 5. I think the reason…

Our first is just out of this period and it really was pretty rough. It look us a month or so to come across the 5 S's and it made a world of difference. We also somehow got very very lucky in that he didn't need to be transitioned out of the swaddle, he just grew to dislike it so one night we just stopped cold turkey and it was fine. We've had friends that have had to do the one arm in / one arm out, swaddle the leg…

My son would always wriggle around until his hands were up next to his face (this is like 11 years ago). I started swaddling him in that position. We had an ultrasound picture that showed his hand in a similar position, so I guess it carried over.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#364

Post by tomp »

throwaway7ahgb wrote: post #303
tomp wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is approximately 0% chance that the speed limit decreed by faceless bureaucrats is the optimal speed for the current circumstances on a given road.

Visit Texas where there are 85mph posted limits and people casually do 95.

nothing compared to Italy, Slovenia or Germany haha

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#365

Post by Angostura »

tomp wrote: post #294
scrollaway wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're the one calling them faceless bureaucrats. Most speed limits are set in place by a mix of safety boards and urban planners, who do take these limits into account. Explain to me what makes them faceless and detached from the situation?

> Explain to me what makes them faceless and detached from the situation? The fact that they’re not there. The idea that the same speed is appropriate at 9am when kids are crossing the street going to school and 2am when there’s noone there and no cars parked on the side of the road, is insane beyond belief. Speed limits are generally repressive and mostly just a tax collection scheme (though I strongly support most…

That doesn’t make them “faceless bureaucrats”. It just means you don’t like speed limits because you know best

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#366

Post by dventimi »

abecedarius wrote: post #359
dventimi wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know this feels right, but introducing tip culture into a market currently free of it is bad I couldn't possibly agree with this less. My view is that "it depends." Level salaries in San Francisco and I'll consider not tipping. Until then, I'm comfortable with my choices.

Do what you wish, of course. But you seem to think this helps to level income, given the "level salaries" bit. What I'm saying is it doesn't. Markets equilibrate; they adjust when the form of payment changes. I'd agree that after tipping culture is definitely established in a field, then stiffing someone is unfortunately bad, unless you can coordinate on reversing this harmful cultural norm. This is just very differe…

Well. I don't want to speak for other people. If I were an Uber driver I personally would like to make more money rather than less, and if that happened with tips I wouldn't grumble too much about it. Maybe that's just me.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#367

Post by kjkjadksj »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #286
scrollaway wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're the one calling them faceless bureaucrats. Most speed limits are set in place by a mix of safety boards and urban planners, who do take these limits into account. Explain to me what makes them faceless and detached from the situation?

Because everyone drives 40mph on that main road that is marked 25mph, and there is no string of accidents or fatalities after decades of this.

Once you are doing 40 or 50 any accident you do have with a pedestrian is almost sure to be fatal. Lower speeds offer more of a chance.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#368

Post by kjkjadksj »

josephg wrote: post #320
aprilthird2021 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're definitely right. In most of the US there's a speed limit and there's an understood amount over the speed limit you can still drive and cops won't bother you.

Same in Australia - though that amount varies by state! In NSW, everyone goes 10-15% over the limit. Just like California. In Vic, they have speed cameras everywhere and they’re crazy strict about it. People joke about speeding fines being part of their taxes for the year. Apparently they even have entry and exit cameras on some freeways - and they take photos of everyone to check your average speed. Even if they don…

It varies by the state and town in the US. There are some that get a lot of funding from speeding tickets and the police stake it out. Then there are places like southern california where I’ve never seen a cop taking radar ever.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#369

Post by kjkjadksj »

psunavy03 wrote: post #208
sho_hn wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a German, I'd like to point out that about half of the German Autobahn network do have speed limits in place, or had in 2019 (this oscillates a lot between about 30-60%, I think). According to a government study into Autobahn fatalities that occurred in 2018, "non-adapted speed" (defined as the appropriate speed for the traffic conditions and allowing full control of the vehicle) was the cause of death in 45% of c…

I'm not denying any of this. I'm just observing that there's a faction in the US which seems to say "speed is a leading factor in car deaths" (which it is) and then insists on everyone never going 1mph over our often-arbitrary-and-politically-set speed limits. When what you're describing as "non-adapted speed" is exactly the actual problem . . . driving beyond one's capabilities or the capabilities of one's vehicle.…

What the government puts on the sign has significance you know. Maybe the highway was made in the 1950s vs 1970s and interchanges are too tight. Maybe its a surface road with smaller measured sightlines than you might realize. All the yellow lights are going to timed with respect to the posted speed limit and braking distance. All green waves timed with the anticipation you go the posted speed limit.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#370

Post by kjkjadksj »

mike_d wrote: post #159
josephcsible wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is evidence that most speed limits are too low. The proper speed limit on any given road is the 85th percentile of what drivers actually do.

Speed limits in California are capped at 65 mph by state law (or 55 mph for undivided roads). Any agency wanting to set a lower speed limit has to conduct a speed study and cannot set the limit lower than the 85th percentile of measured traffic speeds. Of course they can skip the speed study, or not repeat it every 5 years as required, but then tickets are effectively unenforceable on that road.

Highways like the 101 are 55mph in some parts. Whats most dangerous about californian freeways are the people with ten feet of metal scrap in the truck bed going 40mph in the middle lane.
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