Google Waymo Driverless cars

(I had never heard about this until seeing it mentioned in the Guardian today)




By Drew Magary, Columnist May 9, 2024

https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/dad-review-san-francisco-self-driving-waymo-taxis-19446782.php

You will quietly ask yourself more questions like this as your Waymo approaches. Will everyone stare at me when I get into this thing? How can I tell the car I’m on the other side of the street if there’s no driver? Should I wear a helmet while riding in it? Then you’ll see a Waymo coming down the street, getting your hopes up only to realize that it’s someone else’s ride. You’ll feel like you’re waiting for your mom to pick you up from school. Then another one will pass, and it STILL won’t be the one you ordered. Then you’ll get mad that someone else is hogging all of the Waymos, possibly a YouTuber.

Then your Waymo will arrive but not in a cloud of dust. When mine approached, I could tell there wasn’t a human behind the wheel because it was so patient. A bus was occupying the curb, and the Waymo sat there without honking — without scooching closer to the bus as a subliminal message to GTFO of the way. It was content to wait out the bus, which is not how I, a human driver, am wired to behave at all. The bus moved on, and my Waymo found a safe spot to let me in. Do not expect this thing to double-park. It hasn’t learned how to be a selfish prick yet. Give it time.