The Cone of Shame

I've heard of tech unicorns, but this is ridiculous

Not for cats, or dogs, this cone of shame applies to robo taxies.

After about a decade of being unwilling alpha testers for self-driving technology, with its accidents, blocking of busses and emergency vehicles, and its supplying its camera video to police without profligately, some good San Franciscans have decided to monkey wrench the whole rotten tech bro enterprise:

A decentralized group of safe streets activists in San Francisco realized they can disable Cruise and Waymo robotaxis by placing a traffic cone on a vehicle’s hood, and they’re encouraging others to do it, too.

The “Week of Cone,” as the group is calling the now-viral prank on Twitter and TikTok, is a form of protest against the spread of robotaxi services in the city, and it appears to be gaining traction with residents who are sick of the vehicles malfunctioning and blocking traffic. The protest comes in the lead-up to a hearing that will likely see Waymo and Cruise expand their robotaxi services in San Francisco.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is set to approve the expansion of both Cruise’s and Waymo’s autonomous vehicle passenger service deployments in San Francisco on July 13. The agency doesn’t give companies permission to operate their AVs on public roads — that’s the Department of Motor Vehicles’ domain. But it does grant companies the authority to charge passengers a fare for that service, which is an essential ingredient to scaling robotaxi and autonomous delivery operations sustainably.

In May, the CPUC posted draft resolutions approving the expansion, despite mounting opposition from city agencies and residents. Opponents called out the string of AVs that have impeded traffic, public transit and emergency responders, and asked that the CPUC move cautiously, set up workshops, collect more data, prohibit robotaxi deployment downtown and during peak hours, and limit the expansion of fleet sizes.

………

“These companies promise their cars will reduce traffic and collisions, but instead they block buses, emergency vehicles and everyday traffic,” reads one video posted on social media. “They even un-alived a person and a dog. And they’re partnering with the police to record everyone all the time without anyone’s consent. And most importantly they require streets that are designed for cars, not people or transit. They exist only for profit-driven car companies to stay dominant and make it harder for transit to stay afloat.” 

F%$# the techbros, and the self-driving bunco artists.

I live for the day when someone posts a video of one of these cars being arrested and handcuffed by the cops.