Self-driving Waymo cars keep SF residents awake all night by honking at each other

Alphane Moon@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 621 points –
Self-driving Waymo cars keep SF residents awake all night by honking at each other
arstechnica.com
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welcomed Waymo's presence, expecting it to enhance local security and tranquility

what? how could it do anything for “local security and tranquility”?

I didn't really get this either.

I did think the final paragraph was notable, a "zeitgeist of our times" if you will:

The absurdity of the situation prompted tech author and journalist James Vincent to write on X, "current tech trends are resistant to satire precisely because they satirize themselves. a car park of empty cars, honking at one another, nudging back and forth to drop off nobody, is a perfect image of tech serving its own prerogatives rather than humanity’s."

a "zeitgeist of our times"

An ATM machine

Zeitgeist could refer to the past though.

Nirvana was part of the zeitgeist of the 90s.

Re: security: I imagine many women being more comfortable getting a waymo than an Uber/Taxi. It's anecdotal and from a different country, but most of my female family/friends have had an uncomfortable interaction in a taxi, like unrequested sexual advances or things like that.

Would you choose to be driven by waymo, taxi driver, or a bear?

I want my Johnny Cab from Total Recall. Tells me “hell of a day! Hah hah!”

Then we get to watch them try to run over people that stiff them in fairs and damage the unit.

I'm a dude and I still prefer car shares over taxi drivers. Less weed smoke, the driver is not on Tiktok while driving, no erratic driving, and it's cheaper too.

Security, they're covered in cameras, the footage from which can presumably be obtained by law enforcement.

Tranquility, they're presumably electric, so quieter?

My coworker feels more comfortable cycling around the Waymo’s than human drivers.

As in, they are already more considerate than humans.

I feel more comfortable walking around them, they never blow stop lights /signs, always go the speed limit, never honk (except when parking I guess) and are very patient. If they see a pedestrian they just stop instead of creeping forward making you question whether to walk in front of them and then getting mad when you won't cross in front of their still moving car like people.