Waymo began testing its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans in the Phoenix-area city of Chandler, Arizona two years ago, and the local populace hasn’t left them alone since.
A report in the Arizona Republic describes a multitude of incidents where citizens, apparently enraged by the sight of the Waymo vans, decided to threaten and attack their autonomous invaders. Unbeknownst to many of them, the vans were recording their every move.
One shirtless Chandler man decided it was time for a showdown, emerging from his home to point a .22-calibre revolver at the van and its human safety driver. Hoping to scare the driver, the man, who, according to his wife, had become obsessed with the vans, succeeded in his goal. 69-year-old Roy Leonard Haselton was arrested on Aug. 8 for the Aug. 1 incident.
The van’s camera, which operates in tandem with radar and lidar to guide the vehicle down the mean Arizona streets, assisted in his identification. “Haselton stated that he despises and hates those cars (Waymo) and said how Uber had killed someone,” said Detective Cameron Jacobs of the Chandler Police Department in a report.
Haselton was referring to the March collision between an Uber Technologies Volvo and a pedestrian on a darkened Tempe, Arizona street. A federal probe is ongoing in that fatal crash; Uber stopped Arizona testing permanently in its wake.
But one man with a gun is just the tip of the iceberg. Chandler police cite at least 21 incidents in which citizens have purposely harassed Waymo vehicles and their drivers over the past two years.
In September 2017, a man threw rocks at two Waymo vans. Over the course of several months that year, a black Jeep engaged six Waymo vans in a game of chicken — pulling into the oncoming lane in an attempt to cause the Waymo swerve out of the way, or maybe just to see if it would. The driver of at least one Waymo van had to take manual control of the vehicle to avoid a head-on collision.
The driver of the marauding black Jeep was particularly prolific in their attempt to literally get Waymo vehicles off the road. After a game of chicken forced one Waymo to a stop in April 2017, “The driver of the black Jeep, who was described as an adult female, jumped out of her vehicle yelling at the Waymo driver to get out of her neighborhood,” the police report states.
Police eventually traced the vehicle’s plate, but the mother of the man it was registered to wouldn’t cop to being the angry driver.
In August, a “heavily intoxicated” 37-year-old man stood in front of a Waymo van on a residential street, preventing it from continuing its journey. A police report written by Officer Richard Rimbach states the man “was sick and tired of the Waymo vehicles driving in his neighborhood, and apparently thought the best idea to resolve this was to stand in front of one of these vehicles.”
Other residents have called the police on Waymo vehicles. One Waymo driver, who claims to have been conducting a diagnostics check, received a visit from a Chandler police officer who said a local resident was concerned the driver was watching kids. The woman on the other end of the phone, Juli Ferguson, told the Arizona Republic, “Everybody hates Waymo drivers. They are dangerous.”
In many cases, it comes down to a battle against the machines. Yes, like Terminator. It’s a battle driven by fear of technology and a desire to keep things the way they are, explained Phil Simon, an information systems lecturer at Arizona State University.
“This stuff is happening fast and a lot of people are concerned that technology is going to run them out of a job,” he said, adding that it’s hard to embrace disruptive new technologies if your own circumstances and income have not improved.
“There are always winners and losers, and these are probably people who are afraid and this is a way for them to fight back in some small, futile way.”
In this war, anyone can become a John Conner.
Interestingly, the article claims numerous threats made towards the Waymo safety drivers never make it to a police report. In the wake of the first incidents, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google owner Alphabet, encouraged drivers to contact their dispatcher in the event of harassment, and the police if necessary. Still, the article notes that Waymo seems to prefer keeping a low profile, with few police reports filed.
“Over the past two years, we’ve found Arizonans to be welcoming and excited by the potential of this technology to make our roads safer. We believe a key element of local engagement has been our ongoing work with the communities in which we drive, including Arizona law enforcement and first responders,” the company said in a statement to the newspaper.
[Images: Waymo]
Americans are stupid.
Not all.
I have an extremely excellent and stable brain.
Some, but not most. Most are pretty bright.
Same could be said for just about any country.
“Americans are stupid.”
Well, Russians agree. They said that for decades.
Given the way Russians drive I wouldn’t throw stone if I were one.
Remember how stupid the average human is and then remember that half of them are stupider than that.
Does the stupider half know the difference between average and median?
TTAC – please remove all stupid Americans from the website. The B&B braintrust is being compromised by our North American friends.
Thank you
Our betters are simultaneously telling us that most jobs will be replaced by automation, yet we must continue to import millions of dirt-worlders because there’s no one to pick the lettuce.
Planned large scale dissolution.
My recollection is that we were told to rent a U-haul and learn to code.
“Those jobs aren’t coming back”, after all.
Go [some direction], [not-yet retirement-age] man.
But do we have a Grapes of Wrath world or a Player Piano world? It makes a difference.
Then go pick the lettuce yourself lol
Xenophobia. Seen on online forums; manifested in real life.
Yup. And as predicted by science fiction writers more than 60 years ago.
finally, someone has balls in the war against skynet. One day you will wake up to know that google pumping all the feeds into FBI data centers for unprecedented watch
“Everybody hates Waymo drivers. They are dangerous.”
What’s a Waymo driver? Is that someone who drives a driverless car? Wait….
It hurts to think about such things, so I gave up.
I’d bet the ones complaining about “Waymo drivers” have some MAGA hats.
“What’s a Waymo driver? Is that someone who drives a driverless car? Wait….”
Sounds like something advertised on the Golf channel.
Back in the 70’s some Georgians were having a fit when some highway signs had the speed limit in the English and the Metric system KM. This was an emerging issue then; Going metric. In the Apollo era when we had elected officials who respected science and technology it made sense.
Goobers or some leftovers from Deliverance thought it was the “world government” and the UN taking over and proceeded to shoot up the signs. Apparently that ended it though they might have lasted in other states.
I daresay every other type of road sign like 2-way arrows, yield, curve squiggles etc. were also shot up in those particular environs independent of any political association.
We had hella fun doing that and back in the ’70s it was just winked at by rural LEOs.
I wonder what they would make of Interstate 19, which is signed ONLY in metric distances and speed limits.
Wait a minute–people in rural Georgia shooting at road signs?
Yeah, this had nothing to do with the metric system or thoughts of a “world government”.
This sounds like the work of #floridaman’s cousin, #arizonaman
That sensory superstructure is like big round glasses and a geek beanie to high school dropouts.
One of the many elephants in the AV room is the economically and socially crumbling milieu into which they’re to be introduced.
I lived in Chandler for 14 years until a year ago, saw a lot of this testing going on towards the end of my time there. Much of the angst towards Waymo and it’s “drivers” are due to the pedestrian getting killed in Tempe earlier this year, by a completely inattentive “driver” who could have intervened, and a Waymo van that was unable to avoid the collision on its own. Doesn’t justify some of the wacky behavior by a few, but let’s be real, it’s a handful of nuts, not the entire local populace who’s acting out.
Wasn’t that Uber? It drives me crazy that if one company doesn’t do something well, it’s assumed that no one can.
Luddites did the same. Did not help. Can not stop progress.
Thalidomide.
progress… LOL
Absolutely hilarious.
Great Post
I wouldn’t want these vehicles conducting testing in my neighborhood.
Although I don’t condone violence, I would also not vote for conviction if I was on the jury for a trial of any of these people. I fundamentally believe that we are witnessing what amounts to experimentation on non-consensual human subjects.
Let them test these vehicles in neighborhoods where the homeowners are all in agreement.
Finally someone who makes sense in these comments. The not so secret secret is that the only reason they chose Arizona is because it rarely rains and never snows (at least where they are testing). This is how they will be able to go to congress and say “See, we have a lower accident rate than human drivers, you have to let us drive everywhere TO SAVE THE CHILDREN!” And then death by autonomy will be on a lot more grave stones.
agreed
I can remember that some Daimler boss warned that self-driving cars run the risk of being harassed by car drivers. Those big SUVs Waymo and Uber are experimenting with would be subjected to pedestrians deliberately making all sorts of moves which will turn the ride into a staccato driving experience. Not good! And you know what… Robotics academics already warned that autonomous vehicles will NEVER be able to sort that out.
Unless isolated on dedicated road systems, AVs mixing with US traffic will be like dropping high-functioning autistics into gen pop.
The hot sun fried their brains.
Soylent Green is PEOPLE!
Google glasses also triggered violent reactions from the public.
Humans have to go, there is no future for humans. Humans destroy planet, cause global warming, kill each other in pointless wars and even have a problem living outside of Earth’s protective environment. Humans cannot even go to Mars let alone to other stars. AI and robots will take over planet and the Universe, at least our Universe. All humans can do is to destroy things in anger.
People are seeing this as yet another encroachment by corporations in league with govt to restrict their access or monitor them on roadways. They start thinking, “Hey, my taxes pay for that road for me to drive on, now I have to share it with some damn robot! We’ll see about that!”
I keep hearing people say how computers will never be fully capable drivers, but then I drive to work and realize most people driving have that same problem.