[Nfbc-sj] AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IN THE BAY AREA
Kyle Garcia
kgarcia2432 at gmail.com
Thu Dec 6 12:31:23 PST 2018
Thanks Kevin. Unless I can move my final (which really I probably can, it's
more so do I want to) then I won't be able to attend. I will definitely
think about it as the topic of autonomous vehicles definitely interests me.
On Thu, Dec 6, 2018, 12:09 PM Kevin Andrews <kevin.andrews94 at gmail.com>
wrote:
> I echo the concerns that both Santiago and Kyle have raised. Pasted below
> for your convenience, directly from the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce
> website:
>
> Name: Forum on Self-Driving Cars
> Date: December 13, 2018
> Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM PST
> Event Description:
> Waymo, formerly the Google self-driving car project, has been developing
> this technology since 2009. These vehicles should be familiar to residents
> of
> Mountain View and surrounding communities with Waymo testing in the area
> for many years. Now, hear from the Waymo local policy and technical teams
> about
> their test program and others insights on what’s next for Waymo at a
> community forum at the Historic Adobe Building. The presentation will
> include question
> and answer, plus a chance to view a Waymo vehicle up close.
> Location:
> Historic Adobe Building
> 157 N Moffett Blvd, Mountain View
>
> Street parking available at 157 Moffett Blvd and 100 Santa Rosa Ave.
> Public Transit: Across from Mountain View Caltrain/VTA Transit Center
> Date/Time Information:
> Thursday, December 13, 2018
> 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
> Fees/Admission:
> Free
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 6, 2018 at 12:04 PM Santiago H <
> santiago.blue.hernandez at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Definitely. Another possible issue I think we’ll experience if not
>> addressed soon is knowing where the driverless car is parked when
>> requesting a ride, especially for those of us with no usable sight. Not to
>> mention, knowing which driverless car is picking up which passenger will
>> also pose its challenges. A visual image of the vehicle would not help us
>> much. It’s important to have some sort of communication with someone who
>> can provide the feedback to the appropriate department within Waymo.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Dec 6, 2018, at 11:58 AM, Kyle Garcia <kgarcia2432 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I would love to attend, but I'm guessing it will be in the evening and I
>> have a final from 4 to 7pm. If it happens to he mod day then I will try to
>> attend. This seems to be the newest article that mentions the meeting, so
>> I'm not sure where to find out exact location or time of it. .
>>
>> Hopefully Kevin can attend, it would be great to have somebody
>> representing the blind there. With driverless cars quickly approaching a
>> regular reality our ability to interact with them will be key to avoidance
>> of accidents or at minimum awkward situations where neither party knows
>> what the other one is doing. At least we can assume that a sighted driver
>> will see us and stop or get out of our way.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 6, 2018, 9:17 AM Kevin Andrews <kevin.andrews94 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I have all intentions of going up there. Anyone know what time this
>>> thing is at? It is important we have our voices heard. We might also get
>>> somebody from the city there and we can talk to them about getting involved.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Dec 5, 2018 at 12:22 PM Brian Buhrow <buhrow at nfbcal.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> hello. Below is a story from the San Jose Mercury News about
>>>> Waymo's
>>>> plans to begin testing fully driverless cars in Bay Area cities in the
>>>> next
>>>> few months. Mountain View is supposed to be holding a public hearing
>>>> regarding Waymo's plans on December 13 of this year. that's a week from
>>>> tomorrow, thursday the 13th. I can't be at that meeting, but I think we
>>>> should have a representative there. I'm excited by the possibility of
>>>> being able to use an autonomous vehicle, but I'm a bit frightened at the
>>>> prospect of being a pedestrian interacting with a car that has no
>>>> driver. I
>>>> really want to know how they behave, how to know when the thing is
>>>> about to
>>>> take off, stop, turn, etc. While I can't see, I often use hand
>>>> gestures to
>>>> signal to drivers what my intentions are. that helps them know what I'm
>>>> doing. And, in many cases, if there's confusion, the driver will roll
>>>> down
>>>> their window and we'll chat to get things straightened out. I realize
>>>> these are issues that sighted drivers and pedestrians will have to deal
>>>> with as well, but I think Waymo and other companies should know we're
>>>> here.
>>>> For example, I read a story about the driverless testing going on in
>>>> Texas,
>>>> referenced in the article below, where the solution to pedestrian
>>>> confusion
>>>> about what the cars were doing was to put an LED display on the front
>>>> of
>>>> the vehicle with messages about what the car wanted. For example, if
>>>> the
>>>> car was waiting for a pedestrian to cross in front of it, it would put
>>>> up a
>>>> sign saying it was waiting for pedestrian crossing. Such a solution
>>>> wouldn't work in my case, nor other blind pedestrians who might be
>>>> traveling near these vehicles.
>>>> In any case, if anyone can get to this meeting in Mountain
>>>> view next
>>>> week, I'd be very interested in knowing what they have to say. Even
>>>> better, if it gets us some contacts in Waymo, that would be awesome!
>>>>
>>>> -thanks
>>>> -Brian
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/27/is-silicon-valley-ready-for-fully-autonomous-waymo-vehicles/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Is Silicon Valley ready for fully autonomous Waymo vehicles?
>>>>
>>>> By Levi Sumagaysay | lsumagaysay at bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area
>>>> News
>>>> Group
>>>> PUBLISHED: November 27, 2018 at 5:30 am | UPDATED: November 27, 2018
>>>> at
>>>> 10:34 am
>>>>
>>>> Waymo, the first company to get approval from the Department of Motor
>>>> Vehicles to test fully self-driving vehicles on California roads,
>>>> faces
>>>> questions and concerns galore as it prepares to roll out the cars in
>>>> Silicon Valley.
>>>>
>>>> For example, what happens if one of its vehicles -- which won't have
>>>> a
>>>> driver behind the wheel -- gets into an accident?
>>>>
>>>> The self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, equipped with a two-way
>>>> cellular communication link, will notify Waymo's fleet-response
>>>> specialists. Those specialists will call 911 if needed. Then Waymo
>>>> will
>>>> send a response team to help passengers and first responders on the
>>>> scene.
>>>>
>>>> That's what Waymo has shared on its website and with police,
>>>> including
>>>> officers in Los Altos, one of the cities where the company will be
>>>> doing the testing.
>>>>
>>>> "Waymo has been very proactive and very cognizant of community
>>>> concerns," said Captain Scott McCrossin of the Los Altos Police
>>>> Department.
>>>> Waymo will test fully driverless vehicles in the Silicon Valley
>>>> cities
>>>> within the blue area marked in this map. The company got DMV approval
>>>> in October, but it has not indicated publicly when testing will
>>>> begin.
>>>> (Courtesy Waymo)
>>>>
>>>> Waymo first talked to Los Altos city officials in April, when the
>>>> company submitted an application to test its fully driverless
>>>> vehicles
>>>> to the DMV. In late October, the DMV approved Waymo's application for
>>>> testing in five cities. Besides Los Altos, the cars will be tested in
>>>> Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto.
>>>>
>>>> The Alphabet-owned company has not publicly announced when testing
>>>> will
>>>> begin, and the cities say they have not been informed of a timeline.
>>>>
>>>> But Waymo has been engaged in various levels of outreach, according
>>>> to
>>>> those cities' representatives and correspondence included in the
>>>> company's application with the DMV.
>>>> * Waymo held a safety training for first responders in September
>>>> where the company explained its safety and law-enforcement
>>>> interaction protocols, McCrossin said. In September and October,
>>>> Waymo held public forums in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.
>>>> * Over the summer, Waymo displayed a self-driving vehicle at the
>>>> Sunnyvale library. In September, the company was at a tech expo
>>>> downtown. And Waymo has held a training session with the city's
>>>> public-safety officials.
>>>> * In Palo Alto, there's a public forum scheduled Nov. 27 at 6 p.m.
>>>> at
>>>> the Cubberley Community Center, where residents will hear from
>>>> Waymo and get a chance to ask questions. The police department is
>>>> in talks with the company about scheduling a meeting.
>>>> * Mountain View has asked the other cities to meet on Dec. 6 and is
>>>> planning a public forum Dec. 13. Mountain View police recently
>>>> met
>>>> with Waymo, and they are talking about a future training session.
>>>>
>>>> Is that outreach enough? In Silicon Valley, Google/Waymo's
>>>> self-driving
>>>> cars with drivers behind the wheel have been a common sight for a
>>>> long
>>>> time. Each accident involving the vehicles -- 17 so far this year --
>>>> has been documented, as required by the DMV. But despite Waymo's
>>>> years
>>>> of testing, its move to fully driverless vehicles on public roads
>>>> concerns some Silicon Valley residents.
>>>>
>>>> "I followed a Waymo on Castro, the principal street in Mountain View,
>>>> and it proceeded at 12 mph (in a 25 mph zone) with a queue of cars
>>>> behind and caught us all at a red light," John Joss said last week.
>>>> "It
>>>> then turned right after stopping but only gave a turn signal after it
>>>> had stopped. Severely dumb."
>>>>
>>>> The 84-year-old Mountain View resident added that when a Waymo
>>>> vehicle
>>>> reaches the intersection of Cuesta and Bonita Avenue, "it goes into a
>>>> state of fibrillation, saying, `oh, we can't go, we can't turn!'
>>>>
>>>> "It's too soon" for fully autonomous vehicles, Joss said.
>>>>
>>>> Other residents agree. Karen Brenchley said she recently saw a Waymo
>>>> vehicle make a right turn from a left-turn lane.
>>>>
>>>> "I'm like, `Did that really happen'?" said the 55-year-old Sunnyvale
>>>> resident, who has a master's degree in computer science and works in
>>>> artificial intelligence. "Thirty years ago I took an AI class in grad
>>>> school. One of the things we wrote was how to change lights based on
>>>> traffic patterns. We're still trying to figure that out. How long
>>>> have
>>>> we had self-driving cars? I'm delighted that they're doing what
>>>> they're
>>>> doing, but I think they're not ready."
>>>>
>>>> The company is hearing people's concerns. In September, Barbara
>>>> McCarthy of Los Altos saw a Waymo vehicle fail to stop at an
>>>> intersection with a flashing light, which means pedestrians were
>>>> getting ready to cross. She was concerned enough that she contacted
>>>> Waymo.
>>>>
>>>> "They were very helpful," McCarthy, 67, said. She spoke with a
>>>> community manager by phone and email. That made her feel like Waymo
>>>> will take residents' concerns into account, she said.
>>>>
>>>> In Phoenix, Waymo has been testing a fully autonomous program since
>>>> April 2017. There, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans shuttle
>>>> early-rider volunteers to work, school, the mall and elsewhere. The
>>>> company has signed up more than 400 riders since it began the
>>>> program,
>>>> and a recent report indicates that it will start a new driverless car
>>>> service in the area next month -- although there will be safety
>>>> drivers
>>>> behind the wheel of those vehicles, a spokeswoman confirms.
>>>>
>>>> In Silicon Valley, Waymo's first testers will be its own employees.
>>>> Then it will open up the program to members of the public, as it has
>>>> done in Arizona. The company will test vehicles day and night on city
>>>> streets, rural roads and highways with speed limits of up to 65 miles
>>>> per hour. The DMV approved testing of 39 vehicles, all Chrysler
>>>> Pacifica Hybrids.
>>>>
>>>> Waymo started as Google's self-driving car division in 2009 before it
>>>> was spun off as a standalone subsidiary in 2016. Last month, Waymo
>>>> CEO
>>>> John Crafcik boasted that its vehicles had reached 10 million miles
>>>> driven on public roads in 25 cities.
>>>>
>>>> Merely having all those miles under its belt is not enough, some
>>>> critics say.
>>>>
>>>> "The DMV is letting Waymo turn all of us into human guinea pigs for
>>>> testing their robot cars, without an adequate explanation of what's
>>>> going on," said John Simpson, Privacy and Technology Project director
>>>> for Consumer Watchdog, a longtime Google critic, in a statement at
>>>> the
>>>> time the California DMV announced its approval of Waymo's permit.
>>>>
>>>> In an interview, Simpson expressed concern about Waymo's plan for
>>>> remote "drivers" who will be monitoring the vehicles. A Waymo
>>>> spokeswoman would not say how many vehicles at a time each remote
>>>> driver will be watching.
>>>>
>>>> "It's like they're playing a video game," he said, "but if something
>>>> goes wrong, somebody might get killed."
>>>>
>>>> Consumer Watchdog also is urging the DMV to release more information
>>>> about Waymo's insurance coverage, pointing to redactions in its
>>>> insurance documents.
>>>>
>>>> But DMV spokesman Marty Greenstein said Waymo has met the agency's
>>>> requirements: "The insurance information was redacted from Waymo's
>>>> public application because it was deemed to relate to confidential
>>>> business strategies that have competitive significance."
>>>>
>>>> This story has been updated with additional information about Waymo's
>>>> upcoming driverless car service.
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Nfbc-sj mailing list
>>>> Nfbc-sj at nfbcal.org
>>>> https://nfbcal.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/nfbc-sj
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Best,
>>> Kevin Andrews
>>> Email: kevin.andrews94 at gmail.com
>>> Mobile Telephone: (248) 508-8569
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Nfbc-sj mailing list
>>> Nfbc-sj at nfbcal.org
>>> https://nfbcal.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/nfbc-sj
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfbc-sj mailing list
>> Nfbc-sj at nfbcal.org
>> https://nfbcal.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/nfbc-sj
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfbc-sj mailing list
>> Nfbc-sj at nfbcal.org
>> https://nfbcal.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/nfbc-sj
>>
>
>
> --
> Best,
> Kevin Andrews
> Email: kevin.andrews94 at gmail.com
> Mobile Telephone: (248) 508-8569
> _______________________________________________
> Nfbc-sj mailing list
> Nfbc-sj at nfbcal.org
> https://nfbcal.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/nfbc-sj
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/nfbc-sj/attachments/20181206/5288e97d/attachment.html
More information about the Nfbc-sj
mailing list