A Waymo-operated autonomous vehicle collided with a biker today, February 6th, at the intersection of 17th and Mississippi in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood.
It’s a tale as old as time (read: since 2015 when the first self-driving cars began crisscrossing San Francisco, collecting data and side-ways glances): A driverless vehicle causing safety concerns amongst discerning San Franciscans. As time passes, said sensible San Francisco residents are only gathering more reasons to be wary of the novel modality of transportation… one that won’t aid city traffic congestion or bolster public transportation, mind you.
The most recent addition to that logistical egg basket? A Waymo vehicle struck a cyclist in Potrero Hill on February 6th, leaving the victim with minor injuries.
According to Waymo, the human-liberated car failed to notice the cyclist, who was obstructed by a large truck, seconds before the collision; Waymo noted that the vehicle’s “heavy braking” — (why we need to weight shame brake disks is beyond me) — was not fit to avoid the collision.
“The Waymo vehicle was at a complete stop at a four-way intersection,” reads a statement released by the company around the incident. “An oncoming large truck progressed through the intersection in our direction and then, at our turn to proceed, we moved into the intersection.”
Per the contentious autonomic vehicle company, the cyclist was “occluded” by the aforenoted large truck, and the cyclist “quickly followed behind it,” traversing into the driverless automobile’s path — “when they became unoccluded, [the Waymo] vehicle applied heavy braking but was not able to avoid the collision,” continues the statement.
Waymo noted that the company contacted emergency services, though the cyclist left the scene before first responders answered the call, which was placed around 2:40 p.m., and descended on the intersection; however, the same first responders later encountered the cyclist nearby and provided a medical assessment, confirming that the cyclist’s wounds were minor and not in need of immediate hospitalization.
District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton represents the area where the collision occurred and was quick to snipe at the incident not even an hour after it was reported: “Driverless Waymo vehicle just struck a cyclist at 17th and Mississippi [streets]. So much for safety.”
So much for safety, indeed. Thankfully, unlike the horrific happening that involved a woman being dragged by a Cruise-operated self-driving car in October of last year, this autonomous face-palm didn’t leave the affected human with severe injuries.
Feature Image: Courtesy of Waymo
Why don’t you run an article every time a human driver hits a biker? I’ll take the Google payout over some maniac in a lifted F150 any day.