Self-driving cars are flooding the streets of San Francisco, many without safety drivers behind the wheel.
In August, two leading autonomous vehicle companies General Motorsowned cruise ships and alphabetical Waymo gets permission to expand its business by letting people summon self-driving cars the same way they order them Uber. Users who are invited or given access after signing up through a waitlist can hail robotaxis in select areas of the city for the typical ride fare.
But the launch encountered problems. These cars drive into fire scenes, delay construction, impede ambulances, and even wind into active crime scenes.
“There have been over 75 incidents,” San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson said. “It’s like playing Russian roulette. It’s impacting public safety and that’s what we need to address.”
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said, “There are still some issues that need to be addressed.”
“And that’s just a few hundred cars,” Qiu said. “We are concerned that thousands of vehicles could flood our streets at short notice.”
In October, the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s license to operate its driverless fleet in the state, citing an incident Cruise vehicle drags pedestrian 20 feet after collision.
Cruise has been rapidly expanding to other cities, including Phoenix, Austin, Dallas, Houston and Miami, but after suspending operations in California, the company suspended its self-driving operations nationwide. Waymo still operates robotaxis in San Francisco.
CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa took a ride in one of Cruise’s self-driving cars before its license was revoked. She also tried Waymo and compared two very different rides. She spoke with Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, who is optimistic the company can overcome these recent hurdles.
“In the next few years, it will become very common for people in big cities to take robotaxis around town,” Vogt said.
watch video Find out how the introduction of robo-taxi has impacted the city and what’s next.
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