Austin, Texas is one of the cities in the US with Cruise autonomous vehicles on its roadways. Despite making many of their trips without incident they’re far from perfect. Now, a short video of one such Cruise vehicle driving into a bike lane has stirred concern over their abilities.
The video in question was actually shot by cyclist Robert Foster while riding near the autonomous vehicle on his commute home. In it we see the Cruise take a wide left turn and drive into the bike lane within just a few inches of the curb. There’s no question that there was no room for someone on a bike to be safely in the lane next to both the curb and the car.
Foster was pretty upset saying “They’re driving like a lot of maybe less experienced drivers in Austin drive or when they take a left turn, they just do it extremely wide, not realizing that’s both illegal and very unsafe,” to KXAN News. He also points out that a cyclist who could’ve been rushing to make the light could’ve been in that very spot. After stopping and watching for a while, he says that multiple Cruise vehicles made the same wide left turn at that intersection. Are his concerns overblown or underappreciated?
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Taking a turn a little wide isn’t all that uncommon when space allows for it but as Foster pointed out, it is actually illegal in many places. Cruise released its own statement surrounding the issue with a plan of action and a promise.
“Safety is Cruise’s top priority, not just for our passengers but for everyone we share the road with. Our technology is always improving and we’re reviewing our lane-mapping in that area.” It also said that had a cyclist been in the bicycle lane that the car would’ve noticed them and veered harder into its own lane.
For Foster, that’s simply not enough to reassure him.“Had there been bollards or flex posts, there is no way the car would have gone over [into the lane],” he said. “I really think we should have safety drivers in these cars with the way they’re currently performing because even if they’re doing 99% of the things well, 1% of issue [sic] in downtown Austin or Central Austin could put people’s lives at grave risk.”
It’s worth noting that the vehicle rolled back fully into its lane before it reached the next intersection. For now, it seems that the prudent thing to do is to be actively scanning for safety concerns whether you’re on a bike, in a car, or simply walking around moving vehicles.