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San Francisco is fighting to stop self-driving cars and taxis from operating in the city. Despite getting the green light from the authorities, the city has decided to sue the state commission that approved Google’s Waymo and GM’s Cruise, with the aim of prohibiting these services from the streets of SF.
Although Cruise has lost its license to operate in California due to a recent deadly accident, Waymo has a strong safety record, arguing that their cars are safer than those driven by human operators. However, Cruise has had performance issues, and Tesla’s self-driving claims are viewed with skepticism. This suggests that the problem with fully self-driving (FSD) cars is more about the safety culture of the company rather than the technology itself.
Despite Waymo’s superior FSD safety record, some people view it as a ‘nuisance’ and have taken action to sabotage the cars. Nevertheless, FSD technology, while not fully developed yet, offers significant advantages over human drivers as it never drives distracted or intoxicated, and can be enhanced and adjusted across all cars based on experiences.
Legal experts believe that San Francisco’s case against the state commission has slim chances of success based on the available evidence, including the safety considerations taken into account when approving Waymo’s operation in SF.
