San Francisco street plagued by lost self driving cars

Sophisticated self-driving vehicles appear flummoxed by a dead-end street

A Waymo self-driving car makes a multi-point turn on a dead-end San Francisco street (KPIX/CBS)

Residents of a normally-quiet San Francisco dead-end street say their road has become overrun with self-driving cars.

As many as 50 Waymo vehicles turn up at the end of 15th Avenue in the Richmond District each day, making multi-point turns to get out of the narrow street.

The vehicles. which each carry sophisticated computer equipment, appear confused by the abrupt end of the street, and neighbours say their continual presence is becoming a nuisance.

“I noticed it while I was sleeping,” Jennifer King told local KPIX.

“I awoke to a strange hum and I thought there was a spacecraft outside my bedroom window.”

Neighbours reported Waymo cars were turning up every five minutes on Tuesday, clogging the street as many residents work from home.

“We have talked to the drivers, who don’t have much to say other than the car is programmed and they’re just doing their job,” Ms King told KPIX.

Waymo, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, is trialling driverless ride-hailing cars in San Francisco, with each car carrying a human on board for safety reasons.

A Waymo spokeswoman provided a statement to The Independent saying their cars continually adjust to dynamic San Francisco road rules.

“In this case, cars traveling North of California on 15th Ave have to take a u-turn due to the presence of Slow Streets signage on Lake. So, the Waymo Driver was obeying the same road rules that any car is required to follow.”

Waymo began testing its self-driving cars in Phoenix in 2017 before offering a driverless ride-hailing service in the city in October 2020.