A San Francisco police officer recently pulled over a car because the headlights weren’t on, but as the officer approached the vehicle, he realized the car wasn’t just a self-driving car with no one in the driver’s seat — that Vehicle was completely empty. The confused policeman can be heard saying, “Ain’t nobody inside; this is crazy,” in a viral video of the incident.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a San Francisco Police Department traffic officer was recently shocked when he stopped a vehicle because it hadn’t turned on its headlights, only to find it was completely empty. “Is there nobody in it; this is crazy,” a confused SFPD officer is heard saying in video captured by a bystander.
The vehicle was a self-propelled Chevy Bolt owned by Cruise self-driving vehicle company and was pulled over by the officer because the headlights were not on. The car stopped for police but then drove away, crossing an intersection before stopping in front of a Chinese restaurant. Cruise later stated the vehicle was “moving as intended to the nearest safe location for traffic control.”
The officer and two of his colleagues immediately surrounded the vehicle, peered through the windows and shone their flashlights inside. The SFPD then reportedly contacted Cruise, who took over remote control of the vehicle, and no subpoena was issued.
Experts say the incident shows autonomous cars are still unable to figure out human-robot interactions. Situations like this are likely to become more common as companies like General Motors spin-off Cruise, Google’s Waymo, and others begin operating self-driving vehicles on public roads in California.
The companies are testing robo-taxi rides for employees and some members of the public. Bryant Walker Smith, who teaches law at the University of South Carolina and is an associate researcher at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, commented that self-driving automakers are “trying to navigate regimes full of uncertainty and imperfection in the little dances between law enforcement officers.” and a vehicle.”
He added: “As futuristic as we think, we have to deal with the structures of the present and even with the anachronisms of the past.”
Read more in the San Francisco Chronicle here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact us via secure email at [email protected]