Self-Driving Cars Are Coming To San Francisco
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San Francisco residents may notice something missing the next time they hail a taxi — no driver at the wheel. On June 2, 2022, Cruise, a division of General Motors (GM), was approved to charge for rides in its autonomous cars. Waymo, owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet, has been offering a similar service in Chandler, Arizona, since October 2020. However, Cruise is the first company allowed to operate commercial driverless cars in a major US city.
The first-of-its-kind permit comes with some restrictions. Cruise vehicles will be confined to transporting passengers in less congested areas of the city between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The self-driving cars should not exceed a speed of 30 mph. They are also not allowed to operate in heavy rain or fog. The rules are meant to mitigate any injuries or accidents.
Cruise plans to launch the service gradually with a fleet of just 30 cars. The first robotaxis will be modified versions of GM's Chevrolet Bolt. However, the company is seeking approval to get its custom-built Cruise Origin on public roads. The autonomous electric vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals and can attain highway speeds. The car's roomy interior is fitted with seats that face each other.
Cruise's ability to obtain the commercial permit to operate is a big step forward. However, the company still has to convince passengers that its technology is safe. A 2021 survey by the American Automobile Association found that 54 percent of Americans are afraid to ride in a self-driving vehicle.
Regardless of whether the program is successful, its initiation is a significant milestone for Cruise. Waymo is still working on ensuring its self-driving vehicles are safe on busy street roads. Uber and Tesla have both announced plans to launch autonomous ride-hailing services.. Neither have succeeded thus far.
Resources: NPR.com, CBSnews.com, Getcruise.com., Techchrunch.com
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78 Comments
- deafgirlhistoryover 2 yearsWow! I`m impressed! I would like to ride in self-driving car, it`s would be so cool!
- mattchienover 2 yearsagreed!
- asoso22over 2 yearsYes I agree that this is cool,but let's think about it. Won't it be unsafe for passengers to use that kind of self driving car ,without driver .There will be a day where this kind of car will be troubled. But it is a great car,I guess.
- pinkkitty9over 2 yearsNIIICE!!!! I want one!
- eggman190over 2 yearsSelf driving cars that's CRAZY! I wish I was in that car!
- bebekissesover 2 yearsMy grandma used to have a car that drove by itself but she in a accident so she got a new car. Her new car is as great as her old car thoah🙂
- supergamer6158over 2 yearsWow, That's really cool! I hope there will be more self driven vehicles in the future! Let's just hope nothing goes wrong while doing that...🥳🤯🚗
- Luna Eover 2 yearsWow It's just mind-blowing that there is actually self-driving cars! I mean imagine how surprised you would be when you were driving nd the car next to you has no driver or wheel! 🤯🤣🚘
- p1aarnkover 2 yearsThat's actually cool. Imagine looking at the front of the car and seeing no steering wheel and person!!!
- livelyparrot11over 2 yearsI want to see the real car it's amazing
- c00lkidddover 2 yearsSo I finally found out more about this car and how it works! It's a zero-emission shared electric vehicle that has been purposefully designed from the ground up to operate without a human driver. This means it does not rely on certain human-centered features, like a steering wheel or a sun visor, to operate safely.
- lightning272over 2 yearsYou're right!!!!:)
- sravyover 2 yearsThat's so cool