DAILY MAIL
San Francisco residents are stopping driverless cars in their tracks by placing CONES on their hoods, after one of the vehicles killed a dog and others caused traffic chaos
- Protesters in San Francisco have come up with a simple way to stifle driverless cars on city streets
- Members of the group Safe Streets Rebels have been disabling Waymo and Cruise cars by putting a traffic cone on their hoods
- The protest comes as California officials are expected to approve legislation expanding driverless car services
Activists in San Francisco have come with a new, yet simple, way to stop driverless cars after deadly incidents and headaches caused by autonomous vehicles.
The protest group Safe Streets Rebel, which advocates for pedestrian safety, has posted multiple videos to their social media platforms showing them disabling the robo-taxis by placing a traffic cone on the hood.
The move comes after robotic vehicles were blamed for a string of incidents, including the killing of a dog in June and plowing into the side of a bus in March.
The campaign is timed to coincide with the California public utilities commission’s vote to expand driverless car services. The two primary robo-taxi companies are Cruise, owned by General Motors, and Waymo, owned by Google.
On Instagram, Safe Streets Rebel called the campaign The Week of Cone. ‘It’s a great time. We’re not damaging anyone’s property, it’s very fixable, but it is a funny and effective tactic that has really resonated,’ a member of the group told The Guardian.
The cone tricks the vehicle’s sensors to believe there is an obstacle ahead, causing the ride to stop.
In a statement, Waymo has decried the protesters calling their actions ‘vandalism’ and accused the group’s members of encouraging ‘unsafe and disrespectful behavior on our roadways.’ The company promised to call the authorities if they became aware of tampering with cars.
Cruise highlighted its public service in a statement on the cone protest.
‘Cruises fleet provides free rides to late-night service workers without reliable transportation options, has delivered over 2 million meals to food insecure San Franciscans, and recovers food waste from local businesses.
‘Intentionally obstructing vehicles gets in the way of those efforts and risks creating traffic congestion for local residents,’ the press release continued.
KRON reported city officials have also spoke out against the protest, pointing to the fact that if a car is disabled, it requires tech experts to reset it, potentially causing more congestion.
Cruise also argued its cars have not been involved in a single fatality or serious injury after accumulating 3 million miles on San Francisco streets.
Safe Streets Rebel seeks to make public areas safer for pedestrians and cyclists while also campaigning for more funding to mass transit. The targeting of robo-cars is a new departure for the group, its previous targets were human drivers.
