Self-Driving Cruise Car runs red and almost gets hit by a Bus in Shocking Video
Yesterday, dashcam footage captured the moment that a self-driving Cruise car nearly got hit by a bus when it ran a red light in San Francisco. Obviously, humans do stuff like this a lot – but this example does pose a different question for those who are either for or against the use of self-driving cars and taxis.
As seen in the footage below, the car originally stays put with the rest of the traffic. Then, towards the end of the video it seems to go too early, and just about makes it past the bus. Had it been a little slower, then the bus would have definitely hit into it – which could have potentially been disastrous.
This footage prompted a debate online as to why it behaved the way it did, with one person curiously asking, “I’d like to see its “thought process” in the situation! I assume they have a pretty decent range of how far away the other vehicle are that it tracks. Did it “realize,” that was the best time to go due to calculating the distance and speed of the crossing traffic?”
This is a very valid question one that the Cruise team will have to address going forward. It also shows that despite driverless cars being just around the corner for the US, that there’s still more work to do. Sadly though, as dangerous as this incident was – it’s probably still a lot safer than a regular human behind a wheel, as humans make similar mistakes on a regular basis. Nonetheless, it still poses a lot of questions about why it behaved in the way it did.