4 ms·
The article says "near" the intersection of 17th and Mississippi, not at, but if (if!) Waymo is being accurate about what happened I think you can assume this w
by harmmonica 3y ago
The article says "near" the intersection of 17th and Mississippi, not at, but if (if!) Waymo is being accurate about what happened I think you can assume this was a 4-way stop (relevant Streetview: https://maps.app.goo.gl/vyH1xZAJ2qeZGbZK6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/vyH1xZAJ2qeZGbZK6). The truck goes before Waymo (again, if Waymo is representing this accurately) because Waymo thought the truck had right-of-way, the bike is behind the truck, which means the bike shouldn't have turned left in front of the Waymo until after the Waymo went through the intersection. As any SF resident will tell you it's not surprising the bike would fail to stop at the stop sign and wait its turn or even yield to the Waymo, but, again, if Waymo is telling the truth, what is the standard here? Is it "but would a human driver have stopped in time?" Or is it the rules of the road where the bike should've obeyed the stop sign and waited its turn?
One comment having recently taken a Waymo for the first time. I was actually taken aback at how quickly it would accelerate from stops. I was actually happy about it because it felt just like a real driver, but in this scenario with the bike perhaps the quick acceleration from the stop could've contributed to the bike not being able to clear in time.