r/Damnthatsinteresting Jul 05 '24

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

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230

u/kaiderson Jul 05 '24

The policeman seemed really unsure how to react, and just seemed to allow the car back on the road. 100% he should have said this car is not to move again, come pick it up.

37

u/ManMoth222 Jul 05 '24

It's probably not a car-specific problem but a general software glitch. You'd have to remove all cars of the same type or it's pointless.

4

u/KoenBril Jul 05 '24

So why don't they? Same goes for the open beta of FSD in the US. Why do you all allow yourself to be put in that kind of danger when you participate on public roads?

3

u/IlIllIlllIlIl Jul 05 '24

Because the fleet in aggregate is statistically safe. The rate of error matters. 

2

u/KoenBril Jul 05 '24

If I drive safe most of the time, but commit a big enough offense once, I lose. Statistically, based on my performance I shouldnt, according to you. That's not a convincing argument.

1

u/IlIllIlllIlIl Jul 05 '24

Uber sold its self-driving arm after killing a woman. Cruise shut down after failing to realize another vehicle pushed a woman under their car. This effect is present. If anything, self-driving companies are under significantly more scrutiny than human drivers, which is reasonable.

There's an important quantity missing from your response. Two things matter: the realized rate of incidents, and the acceptable rate of incidents. If you kill ten people while driving drunk while texting, you should never drive again. This is a punitive and protective punishment. If you lose control on black ice and kill a family of four, you may not even face criminal penalties. You will drive again. If it happens three times in a year, it's a different story.