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Is there any kind of limit to them besides the geofence? Can you get a Waymo at night? In the rain? I suppose it never snows there. How about roadworks? How do

Is there any kind of limit to them besides the geofence? Can you get a Waymo at night? In the rain? I suppose it never snows there. How about roadworks? How do they react to vehicles with emergency signals? Can they follow directions of a cop in the street?

xnx 2y ago
No. Yes. Yes. Waymo's have been taught to handle construction and emergency signals. Waymo's can follow hand directions from a cop in the street.
- lucianbr 2y ago
  Are there no freeways inside the geofence? Someone in the thread mentions that they will be adding freeways soon, so I understand it can't do those now.
  - xnx 2y ago
    Good point. Not sure what the status is in SF. They're working on it in Phoenix: https://waymo.com/blog/2024/01/from-surface-streets-to-freeways-safely-expanding-our-rider-only-testing/ https://waymo.com/blog/2024/01/from-surface-streets-to-freew...
  - aetherson 2y ago
    There are freeways within the geofence in SF. My understanding is that Waymos will not drive on those freeways without a safety driver for now.
    - Fatnino 2y ago
      Freeway driving is easier than surface streets. Maybe merging in is the hard part.
      - burnished 2y ago
        Fuckups are substantially worse though
        fragmede 2y ago
        that's the key point. a crash at 5 mph is inconsequential next to a crash at 50 mph.
      - genewitch 2y ago
        uh, in southern california there used to be an unspoken rule: if you can't pass the driver's test with freeway included, you go to NorCo and take the test there. No freeway - the hardest thing is the "parallel park and reverse" which is just being told prior "when you pull over, take as long as you need to get as parallel as you can to the curb, then just go in reverse, look over your shoulder, and don't touch the wheel." Well, that and you automatically fail if you hit a cow. Freeways in CA aren't the worst in the country (lookin at you, TX), but they're still not easier than surface streets, especially during off-peak hours. Can you expand a bit on why you feel freeway driving is "easier"? the only thing i can think of is you're much less likely to get into a head-on[0] collision. [0] apply directly
        lanstin 2y ago
        There's fewer pedestrians that might or might not be about to step in front of the car. Less need to predict human actions. There's mostly no perpendicular intersections. Generally visibility is good, don't have to remember that there was a car getting ready to enter traffic behind the peach tree. No skate boarders.
        Fatnino 2y ago
        In Redwood City (easiest dmv test route I know of), they ask you if you want freeway on the test, you say no and they cross off that whole section. The parallel parking section is done on a completely empty block and the only way to screw that up is to park blocking someone's driveway. As to why freeway is easier: maybe not as a very new driver, but as soon as you're comfortable handling a car you can get on the freeway and the mental processing loop is much easier. Just follow the car ahead at a safe distance for the speed. Very little else, can be done with just half a brain while you think about other things.
ramonverse 2y ago
While they pick up in almost every location the drop off is sometimes "close by" like 3min walk to final destination (the app tells you in advance tho so you can decide to order or not). This is quite annoying sometimes and I picked uber instead.
__loam 2y ago
https://waymo.com/blog/2022/02/utilizing-key-point-and-pose-estimation/#:~:text=While%20the%20Waymo%20Driver%20can%20detect%20various%20gestures%20from%20raw,%2C%20gesture%2C%20and%20hand%20signals https://waymo.com/blog/2022/02/utilizing-key-point-and-pose-....
choppaface 2y ago
They are starting to obstruct bike lanes just like Ubers, I’ve seen this happen 3-4 times and it’s documented here: https://sfba.social/@SafeStreetRebel/112634004752866771 https://sfba.social/@SafeStreetRebel/112634004752866771 Years ago they were very respectful and conservative of basic road markings but clearly they have now ‘expanded capabilities’
- FireBeyond 2y ago
  California law says vehicles can enter the bike lane whenever they feel it is safe to do so.
  - TulliusCicero 2y ago
    They definitely cannot enter a protected bike lane as shown in the tweet. And they can't just park in bike lanes, obviously.
  - scottbez1 2y ago
    This is false. Please don't spread dangerous legal misinformation. See CVC 21209(a): No person shall drive a motor vehicle in a bicycle lane established on a roadway pursuant to Section 21207 except as follows: (1) To park where parking is permitted. (2) To enter or leave the roadway. (3) To prepare for a turn within a distance of 200 feet from the intersection.

xnx 2y ago

No. Yes. Yes. Waymo's have been taught to handle construction and emergency signals. Waymo's can follow hand directions from a cop in the street.

lucianbr 2y ago
Are there no freeways inside the geofence? Someone in the thread mentions that they will be adding freeways soon, so I understand it can't do those now.
- xnx 2y ago
  Good point. Not sure what the status is in SF. They're working on it in Phoenix: https://waymo.com/blog/2024/01/from-surface-streets-to-freeways-safely-expanding-our-rider-only-testing/ https://waymo.com/blog/2024/01/from-surface-streets-to-freew...
- aetherson 2y ago
  There are freeways within the geofence in SF. My understanding is that Waymos will not drive on those freeways without a safety driver for now.
  - Fatnino 2y ago
    Freeway driving is easier than surface streets. Maybe merging in is the hard part.
    - burnished 2y ago
      Fuckups are substantially worse though
      - fragmede 2y ago
        that's the key point. a crash at 5 mph is inconsequential next to a crash at 50 mph.
    - genewitch 2y ago
      uh, in southern california there used to be an unspoken rule: if you can't pass the driver's test with freeway included, you go to NorCo and take the test there. No freeway - the hardest thing is the "parallel park and reverse" which is just being told prior "when you pull over, take as long as you need to get as parallel as you can to the curb, then just go in reverse, look over your shoulder, and don't touch the wheel." Well, that and you automatically fail if you hit a cow. Freeways in CA aren't the worst in the country (lookin at you, TX), but they're still not easier than surface streets, especially during off-peak hours. Can you expand a bit on why you feel freeway driving is "easier"? the only thing i can think of is you're much less likely to get into a head-on[0] collision. [0] apply directly
      - lanstin 2y ago
        There's fewer pedestrians that might or might not be about to step in front of the car. Less need to predict human actions. There's mostly no perpendicular intersections. Generally visibility is good, don't have to remember that there was a car getting ready to enter traffic behind the peach tree. No skate boarders.
      - Fatnino 2y ago
        In Redwood City (easiest dmv test route I know of), they ask you if you want freeway on the test, you say no and they cross off that whole section. The parallel parking section is done on a completely empty block and the only way to screw that up is to park blocking someone's driveway. As to why freeway is easier: maybe not as a very new driver, but as soon as you're comfortable handling a car you can get on the freeway and the mental processing loop is much easier. Just follow the car ahead at a safe distance for the speed. Very little else, can be done with just half a brain while you think about other things.

ramonverse 2y ago

While they pick up in almost every location the drop off is sometimes "close by" like 3min walk to final destination (the app tells you in advance tho so you can decide to order or not). This is quite annoying sometimes and I picked uber instead.

__loam 2y ago

https://waymo.com/blog/2022/02/utilizing-key-point-and-pose-estimation/#:~:text=While%20the%20Waymo%20Driver%20can%20detect%20various%20gestures%20from%20raw,%2C%20gesture%2C%20and%20hand%20signals https://waymo.com/blog/2022/02/utilizing-key-point-and-pose-....

choppaface 2y ago

They are starting to obstruct bike lanes just like Ubers, I’ve seen this happen 3-4 times and it’s documented here: https://sfba.social/@SafeStreetRebel/112634004752866771 https://sfba.social/@SafeStreetRebel/112634004752866771 Years ago they were very respectful and conservative of basic road markings but clearly they have now ‘expanded capabilities’

FireBeyond 2y ago
California law says vehicles can enter the bike lane whenever they feel it is safe to do so.
- TulliusCicero 2y ago
  They definitely cannot enter a protected bike lane as shown in the tweet. And they can't just park in bike lanes, obviously.
- scottbez1 2y ago
  This is false. Please don't spread dangerous legal misinformation. See CVC 21209(a): No person shall drive a motor vehicle in a bicycle lane established on a roadway pursuant to Section 21207 except as follows: (1) To park where parking is permitted. (2) To enter or leave the roadway. (3) To prepare for a turn within a distance of 200 feet from the intersection.