Driverless Cars Take You Around

There's no one sitting in the driver's seat!

While we were waiting for our Uber to arrive at the San Francisco Ferry Terminal building, we saw a white car with a strange contraption on top of the car -- and no one in the driver's seat!

It was a Waymo, the world's first autonomous ride-hailing service. So basically Uber without the driver!

We saw two people get in, one in the back, one in the passenger side, and once the road was clear, it signalled to turn left into the lane and drove off!

Two brave souls got into the car...

Waymo is formerly the Google self-driving car project, which launched in 2015. The following year it was rebranded as Waymo. In 2020 it was the first company to offer a driverless ride-hailing service. 

The car, a Chrysler Pacifica hybrid, relies on artificial intelligence and Google Street View technology to navigate roads.

But is it safe?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recorded 150 crashes by Waymo by July 2021, though most of the crashes did not have injuries. In February this year, a Waymo struck a cyclist in San Francisco, and then most recently, there are complaints the Waymos are very noisy when they self-park in a parking lot near residents because the cars make a lot of noise when backing up. 

San Francisco was where I saw a robot make coffee five years ago, and now a driverless car. 

What's next?!