3 ms·

The extra width is for parking. See this streetview image; the storm drain is at the end of the block (where a person is standing behind a pole in a red jacket

• dsp1234 11y ago
  The extra width is for parking. Thanks for that. It's so obvious from that view, but harder to understand from the bird's eye view. So from the bus driver's perspective, the AV was a parked car on the side of the road. From the AV's perspective, it likely should have treated the situation as if it was going from a parked position to merging into traffic.
  • wtallis 11y ago
    That storm drain is way too close to the intersection to be a legal parking area according to the rules of the cities I'm familiar with. It's close enough that I would typically assume a stopped car signalling a right turn is waiting for pedestrians to clear out of the crosswalks. I wouldn't expect a car in the AV's place to swerve left, but I would definitely be looking at it as active traffic, not a parked car.