3 ms·

Self-driving cars cause a traffic jam in Austin, Texas

31 points by zolbrek 3y ago

hombre_fatal 3y ago
This is a feature. Put a cone down in front of one of these things and you’ve instantly pedestrianized the rest of the road. Easily a net positive.
helaoban 3y ago
What happens when teenagers start throwing traffic cones in front of these things for fun.
- foxyv 3y ago
  We will finally be free from loud, dangerous, filthy, and deadly cars. I honestly can't understand why cities still allow them into downtown areas.
Kirby64 3y ago
Doesn't surprise me. I've taken one downtown in Austin and it seemed like (at least at the time) that they had it programmed to route only through preordained areas. It avoided 6th st altogether (despite that being clearly the most direct route for my trip) and, weirdly enough, avoided a very basic roundabout (neighborhood sized one that replaces a 4way stop, not the giant 2 lane ones). I've also seen them stopped in the middle of streets blocking a lane of traffic at night before. Not clogging the entire street like this, but definitely causing a good amount of traffic.
cbames89 3y ago
I took a ride in May in Austin. It was my first time in an driverless car. I took a bunch of notes and emailed Kyle Vogt my thoughts. In the past he's been quite generous with his thoughts on our pitch deck. Anyways, one of the points in my email was that there were several points along the route that seemed to be choke points for cruise. We tried to do the most scientific ride three slightly inebriated people could do. We rode all the way across Cruise's range and tried to experience as many different areas as possible. Generally it was better than I expected, but I still wouldn't feel comfortable putting my kids in yet.
- MuffinFlavored 3y ago
  > I took a bunch of notes and emailed Kyle Vogt my thoughts Were they notes that he hadn't heard before from somebody else? If not, what's the benefit of telling him about them all again?
  - jimbooonooo 3y ago
    Customer feedback is useful. Understanding product issue frequency and severity is useful. Should they have emailed him to ask about what issues he was aware of before sending their feedback? Should they have asked you? :)
wellthisisgreat 3y ago
media should start covering all the instances of human driver’s mistakes causing crashes or traffic jams.
- jrflowers 3y ago
  The media is so pro-human and anti-robot. Yes many self driving vehicles may be stranding a large number of people and making an entire area impossible to traverse via the streets — but many people refuse to talk about the things these cars aren’t doing. I don’t see Cruise EVs making lewd and lascivious comments about women’s bodies or getting gym equipment all sweaty and not wiping up afterward. Yet I do not see any mainstream media coverage of this fact
  - lotsoweiners 3y ago
    > The media is so pro-human and anti-robot. As it should be right since humans are the customer and robots should be serving them. > I don’t see Cruise EVs making lewd and lascivious comments about women’s bodies or getting gym equipment all sweaty and not wiping up afterward. What does this have to do with self driving vehicles? In my opinion, anything that keeps money out of Silicon Valley investors and executives wallets while the edge cases are worked out is ok in my book. Move slow and keep everyone alive.
    - jrflowers 3y ago
      > What does this have to do with self driving vehicles? Everything! The media only wants to talk about robots when things go wrong, but what about all of the theoretical accidents they’ve avoided or the fact that not a single person has caught COVID from a Cruise electric vehicle?
      - _lvbh 3y ago
        Well, robots aren’t humans are they? You won’t expect to catch COVID-19 from a leaf and a fish getting sweaty at a gym.
tapvt 3y ago
Having been fortunate enough to ride in Cruise vehicles multiple times in the Austin area, my impression is that they behave better than the average Austin driver. For trickier situations, though, there’s a lot to be said for having a human driver to make decisions, and with whom you can communicate. There are plenty of tricky driving situations in Austin.

31 points by zolbrek 3y ago

This is a feature. Put a cone down in front of one of these things and you’ve instantly pedestrianized the rest of the road. Easily a net positive.

helaoban 3y ago

What happens when teenagers start throwing traffic cones in front of these things for fun.

foxyv 3y ago
We will finally be free from loud, dangerous, filthy, and deadly cars. I honestly can't understand why cities still allow them into downtown areas.

Kirby64 3y ago

Doesn't surprise me. I've taken one downtown in Austin and it seemed like (at least at the time) that they had it programmed to route only through preordained areas. It avoided 6th st altogether (despite that being clearly the most direct route for my trip) and, weirdly enough, avoided a very basic roundabout (neighborhood sized one that replaces a 4way stop, not the giant 2 lane ones). I've also seen them stopped in the middle of streets blocking a lane of traffic at night before. Not clogging the entire street like this, but definitely causing a good amount of traffic.

cbames89 3y ago

I took a ride in May in Austin. It was my first time in an driverless car. I took a bunch of notes and emailed Kyle Vogt my thoughts. In the past he's been quite generous with his thoughts on our pitch deck. Anyways, one of the points in my email was that there were several points along the route that seemed to be choke points for cruise. We tried to do the most scientific ride three slightly inebriated people could do. We rode all the way across Cruise's range and tried to experience as many different areas as possible. Generally it was better than I expected, but I still wouldn't feel comfortable putting my kids in yet.

MuffinFlavored 3y ago
> I took a bunch of notes and emailed Kyle Vogt my thoughts Were they notes that he hadn't heard before from somebody else? If not, what's the benefit of telling him about them all again?
- jimbooonooo 3y ago
  Customer feedback is useful. Understanding product issue frequency and severity is useful. Should they have emailed him to ask about what issues he was aware of before sending their feedback? Should they have asked you? :)

wellthisisgreat 3y ago

media should start covering all the instances of human driver’s mistakes causing crashes or traffic jams.

jrflowers 3y ago
The media is so pro-human and anti-robot. Yes many self driving vehicles may be stranding a large number of people and making an entire area impossible to traverse via the streets — but many people refuse to talk about the things these cars aren’t doing. I don’t see Cruise EVs making lewd and lascivious comments about women’s bodies or getting gym equipment all sweaty and not wiping up afterward. Yet I do not see any mainstream media coverage of this fact
- lotsoweiners 3y ago
  > The media is so pro-human and anti-robot. As it should be right since humans are the customer and robots should be serving them. > I don’t see Cruise EVs making lewd and lascivious comments about women’s bodies or getting gym equipment all sweaty and not wiping up afterward. What does this have to do with self driving vehicles? In my opinion, anything that keeps money out of Silicon Valley investors and executives wallets while the edge cases are worked out is ok in my book. Move slow and keep everyone alive.
  - jrflowers 3y ago
    > What does this have to do with self driving vehicles? Everything! The media only wants to talk about robots when things go wrong, but what about all of the theoretical accidents they’ve avoided or the fact that not a single person has caught COVID from a Cruise electric vehicle?
    - _lvbh 3y ago
      Well, robots aren’t humans are they? You won’t expect to catch COVID-19 from a leaf and a fish getting sweaty at a gym.

tapvt 3y ago

Having been fortunate enough to ride in Cruise vehicles multiple times in the Austin area, my impression is that they behave better than the average Austin driver. For trickier situations, though, there’s a lot to be said for having a human driver to make decisions, and with whom you can communicate. There are plenty of tricky driving situations in Austin.