San Francisco activist group, Safe Street Rebel, is aiming to halt the advancement of driverless cars, arguing that they are unsafe. However, the vehicle companies contend that it is actually the group’s actions that are unsafe.
The group, known as Safe Street Rebel, has been disabling driverless vehicles by placing orange traffic cones on their hoods, which disrupts the sensors and immediately disables the vehicle.
“People are selling it like the future of humanity, robot cars, and then no, a simple low-tech traffic cone and it disables it, at least temporarily,” said an anonymous member of Safe Street Rebel.
Each incident of “coning” causes the autonomous vehicle (AV) to stop immediately and initiate the hazard lights. A human technician is then required to reset the vehicle.
“What we want to do is develop tactics against car dominance in all of its forms,” stated the Rebel member.
Waymo and Cruise, two companies operating hundreds of AVs in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin, have logged millions of miles with thousands of successful and safe rides.
The “cone campaign” aims to discourage AVs from being on the roads following recent incidents where the vehicles stalled and caused traffic disruptions, hindering emergency responders and even causing the death of a dog.
Safe Street Rebel believes that this system is dangerous and discourages the use of public transit. They are advocating for more “coning” in anticipation of a hearing on Thursday where the California Public Utilities Commission is expected to approve the expansion of AV operations.
This decentralized group of activists describes themselves as wanting to either completely remove AVs from city streets or severely limit their presence. They see them as a threat to solutions like public transit and active mobility.
In separate statements, Waymo and Cruise both assert the safety of their systems and express that “coning” is dangerous and causes traffic congestion.
Waymo considers the practice to be vandalism and recommends notifying law enforcement due to the unsafe interference it creates.
Cruise spokesperson states, “Intentionally obstructing vehicles gets in the way of our efforts and risks causing traffic congestion for local residents.”
Despite the opposition from the rebel group, transportation engineer Kara Kockelman believes that driverless technology will be a safer option in the future.
“There’s always a mix of different driving behaviors on the roadways,” Kockelman stated. “Our current technology with a human driver isn’t cutting it, and we expect self-driving vehicles to significantly reduce crash rates due to their comprehensive technology.”
Now, ahead of the state hearing on Thursday, the rebel group has declared a week of “cones.”