City Council members heard last week about the ongoing public safety concerns that the emerging autonomous vehicle industry has created in Austin.
At last week’s Mobility Committee meeting, staff from the departments of Transportation and Public Works, as well as Public Safety, gave a presentation to committee members on their attempts to improve the safety and operations of the four AV companies currently operating in Austin. The city began efforts to monitor and safely advance the technology in 2017, but a state law passed that same year stripped cities of the right to regulate AV companies or force them to share data or geofence certain areas to limit access to the vehicles, which operate as driverless taxis.
Members of the Austin Fire Department and Austin Police Department shared details of incidents in which the driverless cars had failed to respond appropriately to hand signals from officers or firefighters at the scene of a public safety incident. In at least one case, a vehicle failed to allow a firefighter to enter the vehicle and manually take control, as had been agreed as a concession to safe operation in emergency situations.
AFD Battalion Chief Matt Holmes described two incidents in which an AV continued to approach a fire engine with its lights flashing, making it difficult to navigate the vehicle into a fire station.
“It would actually get closer and closer to the fire truck, within, I’d say, less than five feet, even with firefighters standing there trying to use hand signals to stop it,” Holmes said. “So we’re kind of stopped, still in traffic with the lights on, and then the vehicle just decides to go around (the truck) immediately for whatever reason.”
The meeting came a day after Cruise, one of the leading AV companies in the US, announced it was suspending operations to address public safety concerns that prompted California regulators to revoke the company’s licence to operate in the state. At several points, committee members expressed frustration at not having the power to force Cruise and other AV companies to operate more safely on Austin streets.
“I said from the beginning that I didn’t think this technology was ready for prime time. And according to their own operations, they avoided major roads, maintained a smaller footprint, stayed away from special events with higher traffic volumes, and also reduced services during inclement weather. This tells us that the company didn’t have enough confidence in its own technology,” said Councillor Zo Qadri. “It’s unfortunate that state law doesn’t allow us to regulate this unproven technology.”
City data compiled from sources such as 311 calls and camera footage show that the areas with the most problems handling AV traffic include parts of Red River Street, West Campus, and parts of Martin Luther King Boulevard, including the area around Austin Fire Station No. 2.
Prior to announcing the service pause, Cruise representatives made a presentation to the Downtown Commission earlier this month. That discussion included steps the company is taking to improve its service and prevent more incidents like the one seen in a viral video clip of more than a dozen Cruise vehicles creating a traffic jam without being able to navigate effectively.
“We’ve seen videos on social media of their cars malfunctioning, causing traffic problems and a lack of immediate solutions, and it’s important for autonomous vehicle companies to recognise that these driverless cars can be dangerous and that our public roads should not be a testing ground,” said Mayor Pro Tem Paige Ellis. “We should not be treated like guinea pigs with limited government regulations. It’s important that we find ways to hold autonomous vehicle providers accountable for malfunctions that endanger motorists, pedestrians, cyclists or slow down our public safety responders.”