San Francisco Robotaxis Are Being Immobilized By Protest Group Armed With Traffic Cones 

Fully driverless cars still seem about as mythical as unicorns in much of the world, but not in San Francisco where unmanned Cruise and Waymo robotaxis are already in service. Unfortunately, those same cars have been turned into unicorns by a protest group that’s found a simple way to immobilize them.

A group calling itself Safe Street Rebel has discovered that placing a traffic cone on the hood of a robotaxi will disable it, and has posted the evidence to social media to prove the method and inspire other budding protestors to do the same. 

The group objects to the deployment of robotaxis, which have hit the headlines multiple times for causing multi-car snarl-ups, crashed into buses and been left stranded by fog. And Safe Street Rebel is only going to get angrier if the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) grants operators freedom to extend the scope of their operations at an upcoming hearing.

Related: Self-Driving Cars Are Like Surveillance Cameras On Wheels For Police

However, a quick look at Safe Street Rebel’s website makes it clear that its beef isn’t only with robotaxis and autonomous cars, but cars period.

“We fight for car-free spaces, transit equity, and the end of car dominance. People, community, and park space must be prioritized over polluting, dangerous & murderous vehicles,” it reads.

“The last half-century has been a failed experiment with car dominance. They bankrupt our cities, ruin our environment, and force working people to sacrifice an unacceptable amount of their income to pay for basic transpiration. It is time to end car dependence and rethink our streets around public transit, walking and bikes.”

The robotaxi companies are predictably annoyed by the group’s reactions.

“Not only is this understanding of how AVs operate incorrect, but this is vandalism and encourages unsafe and disrespectful behavior on our roadways,” Waymo said in a statement to The Drive and Road & Track.

“We will notify law enforcement of any unwanted or unsafe interference of our vehicles on public roadways.”

@safestreetrebel

Welcome to Week of Cone On Thurs 7/13, the CPUC will vote to expand AVs in SF. Cruise & Waymo promise they’ll reduce traffic & collisions, but we know that’s not true. They block busses & emergency vehicles, create more traffic, and are a surveillance nightmare. But there’s hope We can fight back. –The Fun way: All you need is a cone and an empty AV. Gently place the cone on the hood- you just created a unicorn & temporary traffic calming! – The Responsible way- Tune into Thursday’s CPUC meeting at 11am & give public comment. Info: tinyurl.com/WeekOfCone/ AVs are hella problematic. They’re still cars and there’s no sustainable way to move 2 tons of metal/person. require too many mining resources. Tire wear is the largest contributor to particulate pollution and kills vital ecosystems. There’s also no accountability when they block buses or first responders, and unlike human drivers can’t get ticketed for moving violations. And they refuse to share data with the public about incidents- forcing the city to scrape this dumb website to get an estimate. Cruise and Waymo do not deserve our trust. Why go through all this when we can just fund & expand public transit and paratransit like other cities? These cars are recording everyone without our consent- Cruise gives SFPD camera footage. Lives are saved when we remove the car, not just the driver. The lengths VCs and the auto industry will go to preserve & expand car dominance are shameless & unacceptable. So join us – take a stand and cone an AV. And be sure to give public comment on Thursday 7/13 at 11am. Meeting details in bio Oh and be sure to send us your Coning Content #waroncars #bancars #autononomouscars #selfdriving #cone #tacticalurbanism #directaction #walkablecities

♬ Sunsets (feat. Olivia Lunny) – Nurko