Ask HN: Opinion on self driving cars breaking the law?

1 pointsby socalgal25 mesi fa1 comments

I've witnessed Waymo cars breaking traffic laws, driving erratically, and driving aggressively. They may be better than humans but is that relevant?

4 examples:

* Waymo pulls for pickup over blocking a parking garage entrance/exit so it would sit there for 3-5 minutes (not sure what its latest wait for passenger time is). I've seen this multiple times.

  AFAIK this is not illegal, just annoying.

* Waymo stops at a red "no stopping" curb to pick up / drop off passengers. Often this happens right under the "no stopping" sign. This is very common.

  This is 100% illegal, at least in California. Some people might find it acceptable. It's rarely prosecuted unless a parking citation officer is nearby and they won't bother to report. They'll just tell you to move so if you've managed to pick up your passenger you get away with it.

* Waymo, wanting to turn left into a side street. There is heavy traffic (5:30pm) and ~15 cars waiting to turn left. Waymo passes the 15 cars, then makes a u-turn from the center lane, past the left turn area. There are ~7 cars trying to turn right into the same side street. Waymo passes 7 of them and then shoves its way into the side street.

   While it's technically illegal to turn right if you're not in the right lane, the company would likely claim they were in the right lane by shoving their way into it.

* Waymos constantly flash their turning signals but don't turn.

  This makes driving around them hard because they signal, you back off to give them room, then the stop signaling, or then signal the opposite direction. I see this daily.

  Signaling and not turning is technically illegal but hard to prove intent.

What's HNers feelings on this. Should Waymo care? If it's on average better than humans it's ok? Should Waymo be held to a higher standard as it's effectively 1 driver?

1 comments

JohnFen5 mesi fa

> AFAIK this is not illegal, just annoying.

This is illegal in my state.

> What's HNers feelings on this.

My feeling is that the operator of the fleet is responsible for what the cars in the fleet do. If a Waymo car is violating traffic/parking laws, then Waymo should get a ticket for that. Accumulating enough of those tickets should result in the same consequences as if a human had accumulated them.