San Francisco is one of the only places on earth where autonomous vehicles roam the streets alongside regular vehicles. But as the cars have become more common, so have the awkward, frustrating, and sometimes dangerous interactions between them and first responders.
A fire department official claimed that the incursions of autonomous vehicles have now become a “daily occurrence,” in the margins of an April 26 incident report, according to Mission Local.
“This is an increasing problem. I believe there are many more incidents that are not being reported,” the official wrote in the report. In another note in the same report, they wrote that the incident was “number 3 today.”
Indeed, Mission Local found 15 incident reports documenting dangerous situations involving autonomous vehicles operated by Waymo and Cruise. In each case, the vehicle interfered with fire vehicles or crews at emergency scenes.
Read: Waymo Robotaxis Create Five-Car Roadblock After Freaking Out Over San Francisco Fog
In one case, a driverless car kept creeping towards a firefighter who was yelling at it to stop. The vehicle was rolling towards an emergency scene and into hoses that were actively being used to fight a fire.
In a report, the firefighter wrote that they yelled at the car twice, and banged their fist on the hood of the car in an effort to make it stop. They then warned the car, and out of desperation eventually decided to break the window, which did manage to stop the vehicle, a Chevrolet Bolt modified by Cruise to be driverless.
In another case, firefighters reported that Cruise vehicles rolled through warning tape that they had set up to warn drivers to stop. One vehicle kept rolling towards electric wires that had been downed in a windstorm until the tape got tangled in their sensors and they stopped.
“This incident raises many serious concerns about the safety of these Cruise driverless vehicles,” a firefighter wrote. “If this wire had still been ‘hot,’ this would have been much more hazardous. It is also of note that the vehicle did not recognize when it hit the heavy wire, or that it was being dragged on its rooftop for half a block.”
Incidents like these appear to be on the rise, and the reasons for that may simply be that autonomous cars are now allowed to drive on San Francisco’s streets during the day. Whereas they were previously only allowed to test late at night, when there was less traffic and fewer emergencies, since December some have been allowed to test all day.
“Before, you only used to have these things operating after 2 a.m. There’s not so much traffic; you go around them. It was funny then,” said one firefighter. “Now they’re out in the daytime.”
Fortunately, no injuries have been reported as a result of AV antics yet, be it an emergency responder, or someone who did not receive help because of a delay. Although both Waymo and Cruise say they are in frequent communication with authorities (which no one is denying), firefighters in the city told Mission Local that they want the cars off the streets until a solution has been found.
