A crowd set fire to a driverless Waymo taxi in San Francisco, as tensions about driverless tech grow - eviltoast
  • ArtieShaw@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    This happened during street festivities for lunar new year, so a lot of people are connecting the dots. They don’t mention that the car was aggressively trying to drive through a crowd, but it seems like it was trying to make its way through a crowd.

    https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/why-did-a-san-francisco-crowd-light-waymos-driverless-vehicle-on-fire/

    Multiple witnesses said Waymo’s navigation technology became confused by festivities and fireworks that were lit to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Witness Anirudh Koul said the driverless car “got stuck immediately in front.”

    Another witness said the car’s presence in the middle of Chinatown’s celebrations triggered frustrations in the crowd. “You could feel the frustration when people were just trying to celebrate,” she told KRON4.

    • FaceDeer@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      So the car’s presence was annoying them. That’s not exactly a great justification for torching it.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        The car shouldn’t have been present in the first place. It wasn’t a place for cars to be at that moment.

        • FaceDeer@kbin.social
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          9 months ago

          If you were to turn down the wrong street, maybe park in the wrong spot, you’d consider it reasonable if a mob torched it?

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            I’m pretty sure I’m not a self-driving car. I’m also pretty sure if I saw a big crowd of people, I wouldn’t keep driving forward.

            • FaceDeer@kbin.social
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              9 months ago

              I didn’t say they’d torch you. The scenario can include them graciously allowing you to depart your car before they burn it to the ground.

              Seriously, you think it’s reasonable for a mob to destroy a car because its presence “triggered frustrations in the crowd”? Bear in mind this isn’t France we’re talking about, where torching cars to express frustration is part of the common culture. This is San Francisco.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                I think it’s reasonable for a mob to destroy one of the many self-driving cars that have been pissing off San Francisco residents for a very long time now when it tries to drive into them during a big celebration where cars weren’t even supposed to be.

                Who got hurt here? Waymo? Fuck Waymo.

                • FaceDeer@kbin.social
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                  9 months ago

                  Alright, so you’re fine with mobs destroying the property of anyone that “pisses them off.” I’d say that’s a slippery slope, but you’re already basically at the bottom.

                  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                    9 months ago

                    I’m fine with mobs destroying something that has been a public menace for years.

                    Why are you making personal attacks? I did not attack you. Are you able to carry out a conversation with someone you’re disagreeing with and not make personal attacks?