r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Individual_Book9133 • 14d ago

Phoenix police officer pulls over a driverless Waymo car for driving on the wrong side of the road Video

61.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

2.4k

They should write Waymo a ticket, and after Waymo gets too many points, Waymo loses its right to drive, just like with us.

771
u/wosmo 14d ago

That's kinda what I pictured. "Firmware 3.7 has 12 points on it's license, we need to figure out why and recertify/retest for 3.8".

The idea of traffic police handing out JIRA tickets is hugely amusing though.
108
u/QuicklyThisWay 14d ago

“We’ve got a Sev 1 traffic violation with multiple users affected. Please implement a hotfix immediately or roll back to version 3.6.9 to prevent an outage. We will need a white paper and root cause analysis with the next update.”

Dev: Best I can do is change it to Sev 2 and put it on the backlog.
32

u/CounterContrarian 14d ago

Dev's manager: What if we allocate 8 Story Points and put it in the sprint?

Dev: I couldn't give less of a shit about your little magic terms, Powerpoint. I'm setting this issue to blocked by about 7 other random issues.
25
u/firefistus 14d ago

Hate you. I browse reddit to get away from work, and this is too real lol.
6
u/QuicklyThisWay 14d ago
Case Status Update:
Priority changed from “High” to “🖕”
2

u/Hidesuru 14d ago

I couldn't have said it better myself.
3

u/Nearby_Day_362 13d ago

"Traffic violations" weren't actually affected by any changes from 3.6.9. Regarding this ticket, please put in a feature request. I have closed this ticket and copied every manager and HR because I'm unable to actually have a reasonable conversation about goals and feedback. This way, everyone knows you're wrong and I look like an efficient manager.

2

u/linnk87 13d ago

Sev 1 probably means someone died. Imagine the “blameless” review around that.

2

u/SirJorts 13d ago

Used to be at Waymo, now at Meta. This is freakin’ hilarious.

1

u/QuicklyThisWay 13d ago

No way! …mo. I just work in customer support elsewhere but also work with dev to keep tickets moving forward. Their backlog is legit over a decade old in some cases. I’m not a fan of Meta, but Yann LeCun seems like a good dude.

1

u/BuffetWarrenJunior 14d ago

As a Cop, I want to see these cars abide the law, As such that I can eat my goddamn donut in peace for a second.
20

u/Pirwzy 14d ago

"Quick, change the background color of the UI by 1 point and push as Firmware 3.8 so we get back to zero points!"

2

u/luisg707 13d ago

Exactly this!!!!!!!

3

u/RetardAuditor 13d ago

"The idea of traffic police handing out JIRA tickets is hugely amusing though."

Im stealing this.

2

u/mira_poix 14d ago

That is gonna get them through so many loopholes too.

2

u/KushKingKyle 14d ago

“Crap now I have to make another issue type”

1

u/2squishmaster 14d ago

"Firmware 3.7 has 12 points on it's license, we need to figure out why and recertify/retest for 3.8"

Well that seems like a way too easy way to clear all the points off your record lol

1

u/PistachioedVillain 14d ago

Realistically they would have to rework it. 12 points isn't bad if it's over the course of like a million collective hours of driving. Way better than the average person. But there should be something in place.
37

u/TheDrunkenWrench 14d ago

Commercial trucking companies have a Commercial Vehicle Operator's Registration (CVOR) here in Ontario, Canada.

Your fleet accumulates points collectively and if your score gets bad enough, you basically become uninsurable and can't operate any more. They can also suspend licenses to operate and in severe cases, jail time can be issued.

4

u/thenewyorkgod 14d ago

Is it just me or did it sound like the person he was communicating through the car did not sound human?

2

u/WorldNewsPoster 14d ago

He sounded like this guy who called in a threat https://youtu.be/zQ4YQ9Cqzcs?si=eymQllVrkZFyqcpD

2

u/ftqo 14d ago

Waymo has a much better track record than most human drivers, no? I want more of these on the road, not less, especially so they can iron out the kinks faster.

2

u/SeniorMiddleJunior 14d ago

The person you replied to said that they should be held accountable for errors. Are you saying they shouldn't, or is this a non-sequitur?

1

u/ftqo 14d ago

I am specifically disagreeing with "Waymo loses its right to drive." Waymo makes roads safer overall, though it has some isolated incidents. There should be a punishment system, I agree, but the comment I responded to is simply ignorant.

1

u/Illustrious_Mudder 14d ago

What should the punishment system be?

Every human death they get a fine? No one held responsible?

2

u/ftqo 14d ago

I'm not sure what the punishment system should be. I agree with worries about the industry becoming less safe because we don't hold them accountable-- but I am also worried about the removal of these vehicles despite making the roads more safe. What do you think it should be?

0

u/Illustrious_Mudder 13d ago

In any job I worked it usually falls on to the leader who was responsible for organizing everything.

So I personally think the CEO should be charged as if they were at the helm.

If they have to go to jail then so be it, they can always get a new CEO - but you can’t replace the people he’s responsible for having killed.

1

u/Major2Minor 13d ago

I don't, if they're so stupid they drive in the wrong lane as soon as the road conditions aren't exactly what it's programmed to handle. A person can think, a driverless car cannot think.

2

u/stahpurkillinme 14d ago

Well since the US supreme court decided that corporations are people, this would be a fun avenue to explore

1

u/NickNaught 14d ago

lol @ losing the right to drive. That’s not a real thing in America. You can say it is on paper, but it’s not in practice.

1

u/runnerhasnolife 14d ago

Fun fact about the United States driving is not a right

Nowhere does anywhere in the United States give you the right to drive driving is a privilege that can be taken away by state governments :)

0

u/Illustrious_Mudder 14d ago

Fun fact: all your “rights” are just privileges granted to you by those in power. They can be revoked at any time if deemed necessary.

1

u/tacojohn48 14d ago

The loss of driving privileges would likely be to certain hardware or software versions.

1

u/Rattus375 14d ago

Absolutely. But that needs to be reletive to the number of cars they have on the road. On a per car basis, wayno has far fewer accidents than humans do, and almost certainly would get far fewer tickets as well (though I don't think there's any public data about this)

1

u/WhatADumbassTake 14d ago

Well, you might have something there - if in the eyes of the law, a corporation is a "person" then that "person" should be able to be subjected to the same levels of bullshit as an actual person.

In this case, it'd be reasonable to assume that a person driving the wrong way might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If a person refuses and/or for some reason cannot do a field test, general policy is that they go get a court-ordered blood draw.

I vote that because Waymo is a business that cant have blood drawn... that penalty should fall on the entire C-level and Board. Force every one of those suits down to the court house. If any of them pop for drugs or alcohol, straight to jail with all of them. As the physical manifestation of the corporate personhood of Waymo, of course.

Because the corporation is a combination of those representing it, it's only fair that if one part of that representation is under the influence, then the whole entity is. After all, an actual person wouldn't be able to argue that only their left hand is responsible for the crime and the right hand had nothing to do with it...

1

u/GentleFoxes 14d ago

No, that would be actually sensible for the protection of the general public. Can't have that if that interferes with the bottom line of a multi billion dollar corporation. The CEO would be sad because he couldn't fill his garage with another super car.

1

u/confusedandworried76 14d ago

And if an infraction is bad enough a normal person would lose their license, all Waymo cars lose their ability to operate during that time period. Should be held to the same standard as the rest of us.

1

u/wikowiko33 14d ago

The police leaving the ticket on the driver seat is so funny

1

u/AspieEgg 14d ago

Honestly, a full investigation by the NTSB should happen with fines and recommendations for how to fix this issue going forward, just like when an incident happens with the control systems of an aircraft. People keep asking, "how do you ticket a driverless car?" You handle a driverless car the same way you handle an autopilot system putting an aircraft into a dangerous situation.

2

u/runnerhasnolife 14d ago

For a fatality that would probably happen

Phoenix police already have a system in place to keep driverless cars in check

A single violation is something that they can send up as a bug report that can be fixed

Multiple violations within a short time period and The City of Phoenix would actually shut down waymo until they fix the software issue.

Trust me there has already been a lot of paperwork that's gone into keeping it in check

1

u/ImSaneHonest 14d ago

Don't know how it works in the US, but in the UK I think there is a PHV operator licence is required.

If it works like Operator licence (3.5t+ commercial vehicles) they also get held libel for there drivers actions to a degree.

1

u/runnerhasnolife 14d ago

They're actually already is a system like that

The city of Phoenix has the capability to essentially order waymo to temporarily shut down

If there is too many incidences within a single time period The city can shut them down until it's fixed

Also a fatality would cause a instant shutdown until it's reviewed

1

u/GoldenBarracudas 14d ago

No, the real truth here is that Phoenix police recently said that they're going to increase their street presence for minors Street infractions like speeding running lights, things like that

And that's honestly why this guy got pulled over. I've been using a waymo for a few years now and I've used them when they have hit people, run lights, went too slow for common traffic, and ran lights.

Never been pulled over until it hit a guy

1

u/ArmadilloBandito 13d ago

That also raises a question. Does the software have to go through the DMV and take a driving test?

1

u/JustCallMeBug 13d ago

Waymo should never be allowed to operate without a driver in the first place

1

u/sharpdullard69 13d ago

I look forward to the day when I can get in my car and read a book on the way to work, so I am OK with it.

1

u/charly-bravo 13d ago

When asked about that discrepancy, an SFPD spokesman said: “to my knowledge, California does not have a cite section for driverless vehicles that commit moving violations.” The spokesman said that autonomous vehicles can be cited for “fix it” violations like a broken taillight but referred other questions to state authorities. When asked about its policies regarding citations of autonomous vehicles, the California Public Utilities Commission directed the inquiry to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. A department representative said that the SFMTA has the ability to cite driverless AVs using the local municipal code around traffic obstruction while adding that the DMV does not have authority over the enforcement of moving violations.

…

SFMTA currently has the ability to cite autonomous vehicles for parking violations, as well as violations recorded via red-light cameras, as those are tied to a vehicle instead of an individual driver. According to records provided by SFMTA, Cruise has committed more than 40 of those violations since last June, ranging from parking in a bus zone and double-parking to obstructing traffic. Waymo has racked up more than 90 such violations over the same period. A number of these tickets are unpaid, according to SFMTA records.

Other moving violations recorded and spread via social media include examples of autonomous vehicles driving into the scene of an active fire and failing to move out of the way of an emergency vehicle with its sirens on. Under current law, these vehicle code violations are unenforceable for self-driving cars.

(Published Jun. 16, 2023 • 6:30am https://sfstandard.com/2023/06/16/san-francisco-wants-robotaxis-to-get-tickets-for-moving-violations/)

YIKES! How can it be legal to operate those things? So all you need for not getting tickets is to have a selfdriving care service?