San Francisco Officials Detail Self-Driving Car ‘Mayhem’ in Letter to State

Incidents like a recent one in which San Francisco firefighters had to smash the window of a driverless Cruise car that plowed into an active fire scene highlight the need for stricter regulations on autonomous vehicles. 

Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Ricardo Cano explains that the incident was just one of many. “In letters to the California Public Utilities Commission seeking to curtail their expansion, the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency and County Transportation Authority documented at least 92 incidents between late May and December where self-driving taxis created mayhem on city streets — disrupting traffic, Muni transit and emergency responders.”

The article details some of the Muni disruptions: “During the night of Sept. 23, five Cruise cars blocked traffic lanes on Mission Street in Bernal Heights, stalling a Muni bus for 45 minutes. On at least three different occasions, Cruise cars stopped on Muni light-rail tracks, halting service.”

According to Cano, “Last year, California regulators allowed Waymo to test its cars in San Francisco without a safety driver and gave Cruise permission to charge for driverless rides in roughly 30% of city streets between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. — a time period when there’s less car and pedestrian traffic.”

But city regulators have repeatedly shown concern. “Their latest correspondence underscores the tension between agencies overseeing city streets and state-regulated autonomous vehicle companies under pressure to commercialize and prove their technologies work without incident.” San Francisco officials say they want the state to require more robust reporting of incidents and proof that the vehicles can operate effectively during rush hours before they can extend their operations.