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> Why did you hate them at first? I walk my dogs twice a day and the cars are constantly driving by with their array of sensors. Made me feel like I was being

> Why did you hate them at first? I walk my dogs twice a day and the cars are constantly driving by with their array of sensors. Made me feel like I was being constantly filmed and recorded... which as I understand them to work I certainly was/am. Outside of that, I resented being involuntarily part of a science experiment that is objectively pretty dangerous all things considered. For example, I would never cross the street when one was coming down the road. I didn't trust them. > What about the experience of using the service changed your opinion? The UX is really incredible. The car handled driving very, very well. Much better/safer than most Uber/Lyft's I've been in. Made me realize how freeing this technology will be for those that don't have the ability to drive. If you don't have a car / don't have the ability to drive in Phoenix, you're going to have a bad time. Walkability here is typically very poor.

dilap 3y ago
Yeah, as a skateboarder in SF a few years ago, the driverless cars for testing were already way more predictable and generally chill than the human Uber drivers, who would do all kinds of crazy, erratic things. In an ideal world, we'd have physical separation for peds/bikes/skateboards/etc and motorized vehicles, but if we have to share, I'd much rather share with AI than humans. (That's my pedestrian perspective. As a driver, I love driving and would hate to lose the right. But honestly I think the writing is on the wall, especially in dense urban environments.)
sgtnoodle 3y ago
Regarding the risk of stepping out in front of a Waymo vehicle, I personally wouldn't be too concerned about it as long as there's adequate stopping distance to begin with. You're most definitely being picked up by at least a few different sensors, even from hundreds of ft away. If the car is able to correctly categorize you as a pedestrian, it's constantly re-assessing the probability of you stepping into its path based on multiple visual cues, adjusting its behavior accordingly. If the car isn't able to categorize you, it's still seeing you as a large blob that isn't in its static world map, so it's going to aggressively stop out of caution rather than try driving through you. The reliance on a static world map is a very big safety feature in my opinion. I wouldn't be as confident stepping into the path of a Tesla.
lotsoweiners 3y ago
Yeah I hope Waymo expands soon out to Mesa/Gilbert area where I am. My wife has never driven in the 20 years we’ve been together. Fortunately we live within a 5-10 minute walk of an intersection with multiple grocery stores, lots of restaurants and medical offices but it would be nice for her to be able to go beyond that bubble without my help. She feels bad about using Uber for 2 mile drives (even though she tips well) but wouldn’t feel bad about using a self driving for those purposes.

dilap 3y ago

Yeah, as a skateboarder in SF a few years ago, the driverless cars for testing were already way more predictable and generally chill than the human Uber drivers, who would do all kinds of crazy, erratic things. In an ideal world, we'd have physical separation for peds/bikes/skateboards/etc and motorized vehicles, but if we have to share, I'd much rather share with AI than humans. (That's my pedestrian perspective. As a driver, I love driving and would hate to lose the right. But honestly I think the writing is on the wall, especially in dense urban environments.)

sgtnoodle 3y ago

Regarding the risk of stepping out in front of a Waymo vehicle, I personally wouldn't be too concerned about it as long as there's adequate stopping distance to begin with. You're most definitely being picked up by at least a few different sensors, even from hundreds of ft away. If the car is able to correctly categorize you as a pedestrian, it's constantly re-assessing the probability of you stepping into its path based on multiple visual cues, adjusting its behavior accordingly. If the car isn't able to categorize you, it's still seeing you as a large blob that isn't in its static world map, so it's going to aggressively stop out of caution rather than try driving through you. The reliance on a static world map is a very big safety feature in my opinion. I wouldn't be as confident stepping into the path of a Tesla.

lotsoweiners 3y ago

Yeah I hope Waymo expands soon out to Mesa/Gilbert area where I am. My wife has never driven in the 20 years we’ve been together. Fortunately we live within a 5-10 minute walk of an intersection with multiple grocery stores, lots of restaurants and medical offices but it would be nice for her to be able to go beyond that bubble without my help. She feels bad about using Uber for 2 mile drives (even though she tips well) but wouldn’t feel bad about using a self driving for those purposes.