Live data from Hacker News

Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

road.cc

41–50 of 456 posts

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#41
post #23

I can't wait to carry a set of orange cones on me at all times so that I can put any misbehaving autonomous cars in Road Jail. After all, expecting cyclists not to resort to vigilantism to keep themselves safe from billion-dollar companies is unrealistic.

I'm going to put an orange cone on the back seat of my bicycle.

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#42
post #13

So the real statement is "Following the law is unrealistic". Well if waymo was in my city, I will make sure I ride my bike in the middle of the lane in front of a waymo vehicle. Doing that is legal were I am.

As a cyclist, I'm sure you're tolerant and polite to people walking in the middle of the multi-use paths, right? /s

For a long time I thought cyclists were hypocrites because they play the victim when they're on roads while being complete jerks on walking paths. But really, it's not hypocrisy - it's self-entitlement in both cases. It's honestly very consistent behavior.

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#43
How do other countries solve this?

I have a fuzzy memory of lanes being shared in the UK. Overlapping bike, parking, bus stops, etc. Not claiming that's better, only that's what I recall.

I don't recall what Amsterdam does, but the bike lanes were mostly separated, so I imagine they have dedicated short-term parking. They also have a good light rail system in the city, so much less need for taxis.

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#44
What the actual fuck? Customers' expectations shouldn't matter at all if the things they expect is illegal.

And this is already a solved problem.

The city I live in (Bratislava, Slovakia) has some pedestrian-only zones in the "old town", and if you're in one of them, calling an Uber/Bolt forces you to pick a pickup spot where cars can go...

(arguably this still has issues with Uber/Bolt allowing you to choose bus stops as pickup spots, which is explicitly illegal - only buses can stop on bus stops, but it's still better than driving onto a road which does not allow cars in the first place).

EDIT: i mistakenly thought this was about driving on dedicated bike paths, idk why, but this is still a solved problem, the applications already allow to designate some roads as places which can't be picked as pickup/dropoff points...

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A) I see no evidence this is creating death or misery. Autonomous still seems safer. B) even if in this one aspect they remain status quo, overall it would still be an improvement.

The source article describes an incident where a cyclist was seriously injured after Waymo's cyclist detection system failed while it was parked in a bike lane, allowing the passenger to hit her with the door. I don't think this represents some terrible sin where Waymo executives should all go to prison, but I do think we can reasonably expect and if necessary demand that Waymo take action to prevent similar incident…

> Waymo's cyclist detection system failed

I did a quick search on this, but was nothing but PR articles about how they lower cyclist/pedestrian collisions. Are you suggesting the Waymo car sees oncoming cyclists and somehow prevents the rider from opening the door? This would be interesting in how it could be done. Does it indicate in any way that the door will not be able to be opened until the cyclist clears, or is the rider left wondering why the damn car won't let them out?

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#46

How do other countries solve this? I have a fuzzy memory of lanes being shared in the UK. Overlapping bike, parking, bus stops, etc. Not claiming that's better, only that's what I recall. I don't recall what Amsterdam does, but the bike lanes were mostly separated, so I imagine they have dedicated short-term parking. They also have a good light rail system in the city, so much less need for taxis.

does it matter? we already gave cars unnecessary leeway in designing cities; should we continue bowing to the least efficient mode of transport because a technology cant actually replace thw already extravagent allowances it is afforded?

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#47

How do other countries solve this? I have a fuzzy memory of lanes being shared in the UK. Overlapping bike, parking, bus stops, etc. Not claiming that's better, only that's what I recall. I don't recall what Amsterdam does, but the bike lanes were mostly separated, so I imagine they have dedicated short-term parking. They also have a good light rail system in the city, so much less need for taxis.

The uk has both, so it depends.

There is going to be more of this though.

In London you really have to force your way out at junctions. This is not legal, but without it a waymon might never make progress.

I don’t see this being solved.

It relies on human eye contact to work.

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#48

I live in the U.S. road.cc seems to be a cycling news site primarily for U.K. When I am driving a car or use a rideshare I expect to share the bike lane when turning or getting off. I wish the title had included these additional words "In some situations..."

I live in the US and bike lanes are not shared lanes for turning or stopping where I live.

If you're making a right-hand turn in the US as a driver and there's a protected bike lane you're crossing through that lane to turn. And, when I sit outside in the summer at one of my usual restaurants with sidewalk seating, there are any number of horrifying combinations of bicycles, ebikes, escooters, and things that look like electric motorcycles routinely blowing through the red light at the adjacent intersection--cause they're in a bike lane I guess.

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#49
post #5

this is a pointer to https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/04/22/waymo-is-not-in-the-v... In San Francisco, the vehicles often pull into bike lanes to pick up and drop off passengers — because that’s what they’re programmed to do, according to advocates who’ve asked the company for an explanation. Waymo has told advocates that expecting it to respect bike lanes is “too high a bar” because customers expect to be dropped of…

The difference is that Uber/Lyft use external contractors who are liable for their driving. Waymo is directly liable for the driving as they directly own and operate the cars and the driver.

Re: Waymo says can't avoid bike lanes because riders want to be dropped off in them

#50

I live in the U.S. road.cc seems to be a cycling news site primarily for U.K. When I am driving a car or use a rideshare I expect to share the bike lane when turning or getting off. I wish the title had included these additional words "In some situations..."

I live in the US and bike lanes are not shared lanes for turning or stopping where I live.

They are where I live
Post reply on HN