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One Austin scooter rider is fortunate that a driverless car swerved to avoid crashing into them.
Many commuters have strong reservations about driverless cars. However, vocal critics didn’t stop companies like Waymo and Cruise from creating driver-free transportation in cities nationwide. It certainly helps Waymo’s case when a driverless EV swerves to avoid a crashing electric scooter rider just in time to save the person’s life.
In a split-second, a Waymo driverless car avoided crushing an electric scooter rider after they crashed into the street
Have you spent any time in Austin? Well, aside from killer tacos, beer, and live music, the Texas capital city is a technology hub and a university town. In addition to traffic, that means electric scooters. Everywhere. Including city-constructed bike lanes.
In a popular social media video, a Waymo driverless car is cruising on Guadalupe Street, a popular road in Austin, Texas. A couple of car lengths ahead, a rider on an electric scooter bounces over imperfections in a bike lane. Moments later, the autonomous Jaguar I-PACE recognizes that the rider is mid-crash.
The rider stumbles off the scooter and into traffic right in front of the Waymo vehicle. Fortunately, the driverless car identified the rider and swerved to avoid them. Better yet, the vehicle’s reaction time was commendable.
Faster, in fact, than many human drivers. Frankly, a distracted or indecisive human driver could have badly harmed the scooter rider. It’s good news for Waymo. Especially following an instance where a rider was trapped in a driverless car as it orbited a parking lot planter.
One of the most popular comments on a KXAN News video of the split-second save joked at the Waymo driverless car’s expense. “I studied electrical engineering and I bet you the hardware team went “HOLY SHT HAHA IT WORKED!!!” when they saw that footage.”
Another viewer jested, “If it was a Tesla, it would have swerved into her then back up over her for good measure.” A different viewer joked, “Now we just need driverless scooters.”
Beyond the technology functioning as intended, there’s another takeaway here. Most notably, stay out of the street when riding electric scooters. Also, although you are legally allowed to ride in Austin’s bike lanes on an electric scooter, doing so is risky.