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Yesterday, a driverless Waymo robotaxi and a bicyclist have been concerned in an incident in San Francisco. The crash occurred round 3 P.M., and the bicycle owner was in a position to go away the scene on their very own after the crash, in accordance with a press release from Waymo.

Waymo’s complete assertion in regards to the incident is beneath: 

“On February sixth at seventeenth Road and Mississippi Road in San Francisco, considered one of our automobiles was concerned in a collision with a bicyclist. The Waymo car was at a whole cease at a four-way intersection. An oncoming massive truck progressed by the intersection in our path after which at our flip to proceed, we moved into the intersection. The bicycle owner was occluded by the truck and shortly adopted behind it, crossing into the Waymo car’s path. After they turned totally seen, our car utilized heavy braking however was not in a position to keep away from the collision. Waymo known as the police to the scene and the bicycle owner left on their very own, to our information reporting solely minor scratches. We’re making contact with related authorities surrounding this occasion.”

How Waymo handles cyclists on the street

Bicyclists current distinctive challenges for each autonomous automobiles and human drivers. They’re a lot smaller and extra agile than different vehicles however can transfer a lot quicker than pedestrians. In accordance with the CDC, almost 1,000 bicyclists die and over 130,000 are injured in crashes within the U.S. yearly. 

Waymo, and lots of different AV builders, take particular care in coaching their techniques to make sure their automobiles can safely drive alongside bicyclists. The corporate gave perception into their cyclist-specific coaching in a weblog put up in 2021. 

Waymo works with bicycle owner teams, just like the California Bicycle Coalition and Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, to collect suggestions on what they anticipate from drivers. This provides the corporate insights to regulate its testing and validation procedures to raised present security for cyclists. 

Study from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and lots of extra.

The corporate says that its sensor suite, which sees 360º across the car and might determine objects as much as three soccer fields away, helps the car detect bicyclists in most conditions. Waymo’s system makes use of all of this info and the expertise it has constructed up over time by real-world driving and simulations, to know what’s occurring round it, and anticipate what would possibly occur subsequent. 

The Waymo Driver then makes use of all of this info, about what’s occurring and what would possibly occur, to plan the most effective motion to take. Waymo says it runs in depth testing at its closed-loop tracks and in simulations to assist its autonomous driver put together for even probably the most excessive eventualities. 

Waymo additionally paid explicit consideration to how its drivers drop off and choose up passengers. “Dooring”, a difficulty the place cyclists are hit by a car door opening, is a typical challenge in San Francisco. In accordance with analysis performed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Company (PDF), between 2012 and 2015 there have been 203 collisions as a result of dooring within the metropolis. Waymo says its driver accounts for bike lanes when it picks up and drops off passengers. 

AVs hit rocky roads in San Francisco

It’s been a tough few months for the autonomous car business. In October 2023, Cruise, GM’s self driving unit and Waymo’s competitor, had its California permits revoked after California officers mentioned Cruise withheld footage of the October 2 incident that reveals Cruise’s robotaxi making an attempt to tug over whereas the pedestrian was underneath the car. This maneuver dragged the lady for round 20 toes at a velocity of seven MPH earlier than stopping. Cruise disputes that it withheld footage or info from the DMV, but it surely paused all of its operations nationwide to reestablish belief with the general public.

Since then, the town of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit towards the California Public Utilities Fee (CPUC), the group liable for regulating autonomous automobiles within the state, to drastically cut back the variety of robotaxis on the town’s roads. 

The lawsuit facilities across the CPUC’s choice in August 2023 to grant each Cruise and Waymo their closing permits within the state. These permits allowed the businesses to cost for rides, broaden the hours of operation and repair space, and add as many robotaxis to their fleets as they needed. The lawsuit is asking the CPUC to rethink its choice and whether or not it was compliant with the legislation, in accordance with The Washington Publish.

This lawsuit has probably the most potential affect on Waymo, as Cruise has already misplaced its permits. Whereas Waymo hasn’t induced as many high-profile incidents as Cruise, San Francisco officers nonetheless have issues about letting the corporate have full reign within the metropolis.