Two Cruise driverless taxis blocked an ambulance carrying a critically injured patient who later died at a hospital, a San Francisco Fire Department report said, in another incident involving self-driving cars in the city.

On Aug. 14, two Cruise autonomous vehicles were stopped in the right two lanes of a four-lane, one-way street in the SoMa neighborhood, where the victim was found, according to the department report. It said that a police vehicle in another lane had to be moved in order for the ambulance to leave.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I don’t see the benefit of driverless taxis over regular taxis. They won’t be priced any lower. They won’t go any faster, they’ll probably go slower because they will be programmed to obey the speed limit at all times. And it will get rid of a bunch of jobs. It seems like a solution in need of a problem to me.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        But what’s the reason for firing taxi drivers in favor of driverless cars? All I can see is it’s a novelty.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            That’s not an explanation. There are a lot of good arguments to be made for replacing horses with cars. What is your actual argument for replacing taxi drivers with driverless vehicles?

        • joshhsoj1902@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          Driverless cars will be cheaper.

          Currently they might not be because of the huge upfront R&D costs, but they will be cheaper.

          Like any new tech it is initially more expensive and the price comes down with time.

    • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It seems like a solution in need of a problem to me.

      It’s more like the drive to earn more profits, which is driving this (pardon the puns).

    • awwwyissss@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Prices will be lower if they don’t have to pay a driver.

      Before someone says “they’ll just pocket the difference” that’s not how it works. If Uber pockets the difference, Lyft will drop their prices and Uber will lose its customers.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Is this your first introduction to capitalism?

        How has that worked for every single other industry lately? Prices really low right now?

      • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        If that were true then Uber and Lyft wouldn’t have jacked their prices up so drastically over the last couple of years. You’re describing how things work on paper not in the real world.