> I remember Google's early self driving cars and everyone thought they were only a few years away from being practical.
...and that turned out to be a little optimistic, but they really are "there" now IMHO in San Francisco. I rode in one for the first time last year. Subjectively, I felt safer moving through San Francisco traffic in the self-driving car than I do when I'm driving there myself or when I'm being driven by a human in a Lyft. It was attentive, cautious, and smooth, and I got there in a reasonable time with no fuss. And crucially, I see a notable lack of stories about it making dangerous decisions, despite the total passenger miles.
Why is Waymo there now and not Tesla? I think a combination of factors, including: (a) the head start, (b) the willingness to use LIDAR and RADAR to overcome limitations, (c) the focus on self-driving (they design and operate self-driving systems; they don't manufacture electric cars), (d) the service model (easier problem to focus on a mapped region with good weather and monitor everything vs. sell a car expected to work anywhere/anytime without (as much?) telemetry), (e) frankly, caring more about safety and less about hype. Of those differences, the "head start" one is shrinking relatively speaking, but the others will likely remain significant enough that I don't expect to trust Tesla's systems any time soon.
Weird comment considering that the most common failure point of that contraception method is _failure to actually use it_. Other than that they're pretty much unrivaled in safety.
I mirror the previous posters experience: the Waymos drive better than a good amount of people I know and to the the best of my knowledge haven't had any issues with pedestrians except being attacked by them once or twice.
So I'm not sure what you're referring to? Did I miss a story?
* the ones on the left and right show a Waymo passing by a pedestrian standing on the sidewalk next to the crosswalk while filming. As a human, I wouldn't have stopped, as there was no indication the pedestrian intends to enter the crosswalk.
* the one in the middle shows a human-driven car passing right by a pedestrian filming from a narrow median. I think the human driver probably should have stopped, as that narrow median is a stranger and more dangerous place for the pedestrian to hang out than the sidewalk. The Waymo in the middle lane, given that the human-driven car didn't stop? Don't see why they would, how would the pedestrian have reached them safely? I suppose there's an argument they should because one driver stopped at a crosswalk legally obligates other drivers to as well, but the human I mentioned was ahead of them...
As I understand it, the law is that the car (regardless of driver) needs to yield to a pedestrian who is crossing the street. But the pedestrian is responsible for that first step into the street. And think about it...how often do you see someone standing near the roadway, even near a crosswalk? I think often enough that traffic just wouldn't move if cars were expected to assume pedestrians were going to jump in front of them.
The text "I tried sticking one foot out, crossing in both heavy and light traffic, waving at the car and even pushing a baby stroller (without my baby!)." is more worrying, but...pics or it didn't happen? (In particular their suggesting it misbehaved in these videos makes me doubt the accuracy of their reported text...)
The article also says: "No Waymo car has hit me, or any other person walking in a San Francisco crosswalk — at least so far. (It did strike a cyclist earlier this year.)"
...and that turned out to be a little optimistic, but they really are "there" now IMHO in San Francisco. I rode in one for the first time last year. Subjectively, I felt safer moving through San Francisco traffic in the self-driving car than I do when I'm driving there myself or when I'm being driven by a human in a Lyft. It was attentive, cautious, and smooth, and I got there in a reasonable time with no fuss. And crucially, I see a notable lack of stories about it making dangerous decisions, despite the total passenger miles.
Why is Waymo there now and not Tesla? I think a combination of factors, including: (a) the head start, (b) the willingness to use LIDAR and RADAR to overcome limitations, (c) the focus on self-driving (they design and operate self-driving systems; they don't manufacture electric cars), (d) the service model (easier problem to focus on a mapped region with good weather and monitor everything vs. sell a car expected to work anywhere/anytime without (as much?) telemetry), (e) frankly, caring more about safety and less about hype. Of those differences, the "head start" one is shrinking relatively speaking, but the others will likely remain significant enough that I don't expect to trust Tesla's systems any time soon.