Autonomous vehicles are already quite common in San Francisco, but on some streets, there are even traffic jams …
For a couple of years Waymo’s autonomous cars, which belong to Google, already offer robotaxi services in Los Angeles. And since last August, also in San Francisco.
They are services restricted to certain areas, and with the obligation that there is a human driver in the car, to take control in case of problems.
Except for a couple of accidents in which these vehicles were not at fault, they have done their job without a hitch. But a few days ago they were involved in a curious incident: dozens of Waymo self-driving cars turning on a San Francisco cul-de-sac, every day.
As recounted by a neighbor on Avenida 15 in The Robot Report, in one day counted up to 50 autonomous cars. Even two of them arrived at the same time and had trouble maneuvering.
The peculiar thing about this street is that … it has no way out. It ends in a closed alley and vehicles are forced to turn 180 degrees and go back the way they came.
In the local press it was rumored that Waymo’s autonomous cars had a fault in the mapping of the streets, but Waymo has made it clear that this is not the case. Assures that both your software and maps are perfectly. The problem stems from a decision by the San Francisco city council.
Apparently the failure creeps up from the pandemic. In April of last year the San Francisco city hall closed certain streets to traffic, to facilitate people could walk keeping their distance.
Normality has already recovered, but on Avenida 15 these cuts are still maintained. A no-entry sign redirects self-driving cars to a dead end, where they have to turn around.
Human drivers already know this and do not fall for the trap, but it seems Waymo cars don’t learn the trick of avoiding going around, and they keep walking down the street over and over again.
Waymo has not explained why this keeps happening, and some speculate that cars are intentionally going there to learn to turn 180 degrees on closed streets.
They have the perfect right to do so because they are only obeying the signs, but the neighbors on the street do not like it very much …