It's a dilemma for some motorists: How do you flip off a driverless car?
This probably isn't the most important issue involving autonomous vehicles, but it might be something to consider as more and more robocars hit the roads.
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And those numbers are going to increase, especially in the Golden State, following an Aug. 10 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission.
Thrilled to announce that the California Public Utilities Commission just approved @Cruise for fared operation 24/7 across all of San Francisco!
— Kyle Vogt (@kvogt) August 11, 2023
It’s a huge milestone for the AV industry, but even more importantly a signal to the country that CA prioritizes progress over our…
The commission, which regulates passenger transportation, voted to allow Cruise, an autonomous-vehicle company majority held by General Motors (GM) -), and Waymo, Alphabet's (GOOGL) -) self-driving division, to deploy more vehicles in San Francisco and to start charging for rides at all times.
The vote came after what ABC News described as "a contentious public hearing with hours of public comment."
The decision makes San Francisco the first city in the world to have two companies offering fully operational paid autonomous-driving taxi services.
Prior to the vote, Cruise could operate only in specific areas of the city from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. without safety drivers present. Its cars were allowed out at any time with drivers on board. Waymo was also allowed fared passenger service everywhere with a safety driver.
GM Cruise CEO 'thrilled' with vote
Cruise recently said it was looking to bring driverless service to Atlanta, shortly after announcing plans to roll through Nashville.
"Thrilled to announce that the California Public Utilities Commission just approved @Cruise for fared operation 24/7 across all of San Francisco!" Kyle Vogt, Cruise president and CEO, tweeted on Aug. 10. "It’s a huge milestone for the AV industry, but even more importantly a signal to the country that CA prioritizes progress over our tragic status quo."
Others are less than thrilled, to say the least, with the driverless-car experience.
Critics at the meeting raised concerns about the vehicles stalling in the middle of roads, blocking traffic and in some cases interfering with emergency responders.
The vote was delayed twice while the CPUC worked to get more data from Cruise and Waymo about these incidents.
Tesla (TSLA) -) CEO Elon Musk has been promising to deliver fully autonomous vehicles for years, but the company has faced challenges in making good on those words.
Supporters have said that autonomous vehicles will be safer than cars piloted by humans.
Many vision-impaired people reportedly said they felt as if the autonomous vehicles gave them a greater sense of freedom and security, enabling them to get wherever they need to go without having to worry about harassment from ride-share drivers.
“We do expect the AV companies to engage with first responders, with law enforcement, with city officials, and we do expect actions to address concerns. In the meantime, the resolutions before us do meet our requirements,” Alice Reynolds, president of the commission, said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Federal regulators are also scrutinizing a number of crashes involving autonomous vehicles, including a July crash in Texas. GM and Alphabet both tout their safety records for driverless cars.
Protestors against driverless cars take to the streets
Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma opposed the proposals after saying a vote was premature. She pointed out that Cruise and Waymo hadn’t provided the number of vehicles they planned to deploy if the resolutions were approved.
Protestors have been interfering with the autonomous vehicles cruising the streets of San Francisco.
A group calling itself Safe Street Rebel, which advocates for pedestrian safety and reducing the number of cars on roads, has been encouraging people to put traffic cones on the hoods of driverless vehicles to stop them in their tracks.
In response to the commission's ruling, writer Paris Marx said on X, formerly Twitter, that "open season on driverless cars begins now."
"Imagine hating on 30k deaths a year saved," Adam Singer responded, and noted in a follow-up tweet that autonomous vehicles have been proved safe after "years of testing."
"Yeah, we've been there, safe and effective and saving lives, fuck your driverless thingies," a poster called grand-tout replied.
The Journal noted that GM reported $102 million in sales and $3.3 billion in costs and expenses related to Cruise last year, while shareholders asked Alphabet last November to cut its losses on long-term bets like Waymo.
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