Waymo driverless car keeps getting stuck on Shoreditch dead-end street waking residents up at 4am

"Footage shows the white Jaguar SUV attempting to reverse out of the narrow road at 4:15am, mounting the curb as it struggles to turn around. The commotion woke several residents on Elder Street, where through traffic is blocked via a metal gate. Residents said a Waymo car got itself in trouble on the same road in the space of a week. The car can be heard in the footage making loud humming and beeping noises as it tries to navigate a three-point turn."

"One resident, named Chris, took to social media to complain about the mayhem. That's three times this week you've driven a car with a driver in it down the end of a dead end street then reversed and woken up everyone in the street, he said in a post on X. Another social media clip posted by the same user, shows two residents shouting at the driver inside the Waymo car, which has been sat stationary for some time on the road."

"A spokesperson for Waymo said: As we prepare for fully autonomous operations in London, we want to validate our technology on roads across the city. However, we've now limited vehicles' ability to drive on this street in response to this feedback. It is currently a legal requirement for a driver to be present inside the vehicle whilst testing takes place. A full rollout of the robocars is expected by September. Alphabet-owned Waymo later said the car was being manually driven at the time."

"The cars use four sensor systems - vision, radar, microphone, and lidar - to decide the car's actions in real time. Other firms such as Uber and Lyft have also been contending for access to a driverless London, having partnered with Chinese firm Baidu."

A white Jaguar SUV attempted to reverse out of a narrow road at 4:15am, mounting the curb while turning around. The commotion woke residents on Elder Street, where through traffic is blocked by a metal gate. Residents reported that a Waymo car had gotten into trouble on the same road within a week. Footage captured loud humming and beeping as the vehicle tried a three-point turn. A resident named Chris complained online about multiple incidents involving cars driving down the dead end and reversing to wake everyone. Waymo said it was validating technology across London, limited vehicles’ ability to drive on the street after feedback, and noted a legal requirement for a driver to be present during testing. Waymo later said the car was manually driven at the time. Other Waymo incidents in the US included a cat death in San Francisco and accusations of illegally passing school buses. The vehicles rely on vision, radar, microphone, and lidar sensors to make real-time decisions, while Uber and Lyft also pursue driverless access in London with Baidu.

Read at www.standard.co.uk