Photo: Nico | X
Robots do not fail because they don't get tired, they don't drink and drive, they are not moody, they don't ask for a raise. Rewind that. Over a dozen robotaxis caused a massive traffic jam in Austin, Texas.
How do you detangle a dozen self-driving cars, which are stuck and have no idea which way to go? Reprogram them? Drive them out of the chaos, maybe? That is not an option if they are miles away from those that can operate them.
Over a dozen robotaxi prototypes developed by Cruise got confused and stopped in a street in West Campus, Austin. None of them had drivers on board, with all the driving being based on cameras and sensors that equip the vehicles. Witnesses at the scene turned on their phone cameras, and soon, videos from the scene turned viral across social media. The videos show the autonomous cars lining up in the street at night, unable to drive away.
Some of the Chevrolet Bolts involved in the mayhem on Saturday night have their hazard lights flashing. Others try to find their way around those that are stuck. But none seems to be able to come out of the predicament. The videos even show some of the vehicles positioned on the wrong side of the road, not being able to find the right direction.
Cruise claims that heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic led to the self-driving prototypes crowding together in the street. So, the cars stopping in the middle of the road sounds like a precaution. They are programmed to stop as the safest move in a hazardous situation.
The Cruise engineers have some software fixing to do, apparently, since these are normal traffic situations that the prototypes were unable to deal with.
According to people witnessing the scene, the first vehicle to gridlock was one trying to make a turn in the intersection. More and more Cruise robotaxis subsequently joined the traffic jam.
Cruise operators reportedly tried to maneuver them out of the traffic jam remotely and the cars left the scene autonomously. The company apologized for the inconvenience. They also explained that, at the time, there was limited routes to go north and south through the city. A detour from an alternative route led the prototypes to the same location.
In a statement for Electrek, the Cruise representatives said that nobody was injured and there were no vehicle or property damage.
The Cruise prototypes have caused traffic jams before. Back in August, approximately ten cars jammed traffic on Vallejo Street in San Francisco. The city has seen such incidents before. In July 2022, several prototypes came to a stop near a crowded intersection.
Another incident involving a Cruise vehicle took place in San Francisco earlier this month, when a masked man tried to detroy a self-driving car using a hammer. He started by hitting the cameras mounted on the roof of the car and proceeded to the windshield, mirrors, and side windows. The company's representatives admitted that the vehicle was destroyed.
There are currently around 120 autonomous cars operating in Austin, Texas.
Over a dozen robotaxi prototypes developed by Cruise got confused and stopped in a street in West Campus, Austin. None of them had drivers on board, with all the driving being based on cameras and sensors that equip the vehicles. Witnesses at the scene turned on their phone cameras, and soon, videos from the scene turned viral across social media. The videos show the autonomous cars lining up in the street at night, unable to drive away.
Some of the Chevrolet Bolts involved in the mayhem on Saturday night have their hazard lights flashing. Others try to find their way around those that are stuck. But none seems to be able to come out of the predicament. The videos even show some of the vehicles positioned on the wrong side of the road, not being able to find the right direction.
Cruise claims that heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic led to the self-driving prototypes crowding together in the street. So, the cars stopping in the middle of the road sounds like a precaution. They are programmed to stop as the safest move in a hazardous situation.
The Cruise engineers have some software fixing to do, apparently, since these are normal traffic situations that the prototypes were unable to deal with.
According to people witnessing the scene, the first vehicle to gridlock was one trying to make a turn in the intersection. More and more Cruise robotaxis subsequently joined the traffic jam.
Cruise operators reportedly tried to maneuver them out of the traffic jam remotely and the cars left the scene autonomously. The company apologized for the inconvenience. They also explained that, at the time, there was limited routes to go north and south through the city. A detour from an alternative route led the prototypes to the same location.
In a statement for Electrek, the Cruise representatives said that nobody was injured and there were no vehicle or property damage.
The Cruise prototypes have caused traffic jams before. Back in August, approximately ten cars jammed traffic on Vallejo Street in San Francisco. The city has seen such incidents before. In July 2022, several prototypes came to a stop near a crowded intersection.
Another incident involving a Cruise vehicle took place in San Francisco earlier this month, when a masked man tried to detroy a self-driving car using a hammer. He started by hitting the cameras mounted on the roof of the car and proceeded to the windshield, mirrors, and side windows. The company's representatives admitted that the vehicle was destroyed.
There are currently around 120 autonomous cars operating in Austin, Texas.
@sophie.stoeger #westcampus #cruisecar #selfdrivingcars #austin ? original sound - Sophie Stoeger
more angles lol you can see how much farther up the street this was backed up pic.twitter.com/lo7e8Mmmcv
— Nico???? (@pradnico) September 18, 2023
crying rn pic.twitter.com/soGIcjN4aN
— Nico???? (@pradnico) September 17, 2023
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