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S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

sfchronicle.com

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Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#281

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

jiveturkey wrote: post #81
imperialdrive wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on the streets of SF for hours a day, every day, mostly on bicycle. Often at night, when these AVs are at their peak output. The difference in their behavior is scary noticeable, especially within the last 30 days. I'm very curious about the programming reason behind it.

i have no basis for this guess, but i'd suppose it's more miles being driven, not a significant programming update. yep, TFA linkes to another article that there was a recent significant increase in miles driven. i guess that doesn't necessarily jibe with your perception of a noticeable difference in singular behavior, but our brains do funny things. when you buy a certain new make of car, suddenly you wonder why so…

But in this case, everyone seems to agree that behavior changed, and data about incident reports matches it. It matches my experience too. It wasn't a subtle change. Cruise cars rapidly went from being timid and predictable to unpredictable.

Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#283

Post by jackmott42 »

Aurornis wrote: post #234
cashsterling wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why the other reply to this post got downvoted to hell. THe person has a point. Fully autonomous cars are cool... don't get me wrong. But electric cars and autonomous electric/gas cars are probably not the right solution to our person transport needs. using energy to move a 4000 lb vehicle to transport one or two 200 lb humans is not energy-efficient... most of the energy is spent just moving the vehicle…

> A 60lb e-bike can also transport a 200 lb person whilst using far less resources (both to make the vehicle and to operate it) and space. E-bikes are great for the situations, climates, and people who can use them. E-bikes are not a substitute for the majority of people’s transportation needs. I think the young, healthy people who live in moderate climates with good weather, short commutes, and little need to haul a…

No, we want to change the long commute situation and change the way roads and cars are so that bikes are not a terrifying option.

Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#284

Post by [deleted] »

DragonStrength wrote: post #14

I left SF a year ago but had Cruise and Waymo cars in my neighborhood constantly. They were a total nuisance. They'd jerk towards pedestrians in crosswalks leading to this uncomfortable standoff where no one in the neighborhood would ever step in front of one. I'd wager any stats here are way lower than real incidences as I was nearly hit multiple times and never got to the "report it" stage as there are so many barr…

[deleted]

Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#285

Post by coryrc »

barbazoo wrote: post #236
Retric wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn’t actually take that much energy to move a 4000 lb vehicle. 15,000 miles per year * 1 kWh / 4 miles ~= 10.3 kWh per day ~= 430 watts 24/7. Few loads are 24/7 but a single crypto mining PC can easily use several times that.

I got 15,000 miles * 1.344 kWh/mile = 20,160 kWh or 55 kWh / day

Most EVs are 0.2-0.4 kWh/mi.

Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#286

Post by clsec »

gonehome wrote: post #53
sbuttgereit wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regularly (like daily) see empty cars (Waymo & Cruise) driving around residential areas by Lake Merced while I'm driving to pick up/drop off my kid from summer school... that's between the hours 8am and noon. Also see them in the Ingleside neighborhoods during the day: they have been completely empty when I've seen them. So maybe they can't carry passengers other than those other times, but they are definitely driv…

Yeah, I think they don’t carry passengers outside of those nighttime hours, but they are still testing them in some areas during the day (which makes sense, need to test them then if they eventually want to operate then)

You are absolutely correct.

Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#287

Post by Enginerrrd »

dekhn wrote: post #115

"Skyrocket" is a word people use when they don't have the data to support their claim, but want to make it sound as extreme as possible. When I hear "skyrocket" I think "several orders of magnitude in a very short time". But the source of the quote with skyrocket, basically admits that they didn't have any quantitative evidence to support a massive change in incidents. Remember: reality is banal. Things are far bette…

Your last paragraph perfectly describes what for me was the key epiphany of my adult life. When I gained the scientific maturity to read papers and I realized how shaky the ground was upon which most studies stand, it was pretty enlightening.

Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#288

Post by _whiteCaps_ »

jtriangle wrote: post #237
cashsterling wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why the other reply to this post got downvoted to hell. THe person has a point. Fully autonomous cars are cool... don't get me wrong. But electric cars and autonomous electric/gas cars are probably not the right solution to our person transport needs. using energy to move a 4000 lb vehicle to transport one or two 200 lb humans is not energy-efficient... most of the energy is spent just moving the vehicle…

Cool, you have an affordable, tenuously waterproofed, chinese mass produced e-bike, it's your only available mode of transportation, you need to go into the office for a meeting, and it's raining. Welcome to hell. Also, not sure if you've used public transportation recently, but man, it SUCKS. Far less time efficient than a car, often crowded during the times you want to use it, and ZERO enforcement of proper etiquet…

Something like the West Coast Express train in Vancouver is what you want - tables, washrooms, AC plugs for charging your stuff, etc. It's a great way to commute.

Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#289

Post by tjohns »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #258
Aurornis wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A 60lb e-bike can also transport a 200 lb person whilst using far less resources (both to make the vehicle and to operate it) and space. E-bikes are great for the situations, climates, and people who can use them. E-bikes are not a substitute for the majority of people’s transportation needs. I think the young, healthy people who live in moderate climates with good weather, short commutes, and little need to haul a…

> and little need to haul anything often forget The dutch created the cargo bike for this very reason. But they have the climate and biking infrastructure to support that kind of lifestyle. We (Americans) don't, I wish we did.

Cargo bikes are great, but when I think of "hauling things" I think of items much larger than would ever fit there.

You're not going to haul lumber or sheet metal in a cargo bike, and that's the easy case.

Re: S.F. says incidents by Cruise, Waymo driverless taxis are ‘skyrocketing.’

#290

Post by [deleted] »

dekhn wrote: post #264
dghlsakjg wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've participated and watched critical mass any number of times. I've never seen cyclists target cars randomly. The only time you will be surrounded in a minivan is if you try to drive through the cyclists, or otherwise act aggressively or unsafely. Critical mass is a protest movement. If you drive your vehicle into the middle of a protest against vehicles in a way that puts people in danger, don't be surprised when…

The situtations I'm describing (covered in the press at the time) were not defensive- they were actively offensive. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflicts_involving_Critical_M... Swarming a car and preventing it from moving- sure, the safest thing for the car to do is stop driving, but... I don't think that's really a good defense of confrontational bikers.

[deleted]
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