Cruise Accident in San Francisco
A pedestrian got hit by two cars at Market and Fifth - one human-driven, one a Cruise autonomous vehicle. This incident really shook me, and it should shake anyone who's been watching the autonomous vehicle rollout in SF.
Here's what happened: Monday night, traffic light turns green. A human driver hits a woman crossing the intersection and speeds off - classic hit-and-run. The impact throws her into the next lane, right in front of a Cruise self-driving car. The Cruise vehicle couldn't stop in time and ran over her.
Cruise says their car did everything it could to minimize impact. Maybe that's true. But here's my problem: the technology isn't ready if it can't react fast enough to avoid someone thrown into its path. Human drivers might not do better in that split-second situation, but we're supposed to be holding autonomous vehicles to a higher standard.
This wasn't the Cruise vehicle's fault in the traditional sense - it didn't cause the initial accident. But it shows the limitations of current autonomous driving technology in 2023. These cars are programmed for normal traffic scenarios, not for chaotic situations where people are being flung into their path by hit-and-run drivers. While Waymo has since proven autonomous vehicles can scale successfully with over 100,000 weekly trips, this incident highlighted the challenges AVs face in unpredictable urban environments.
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