On June 25, Waymo opened its robotaxis’ doors to anyone in San Francisco. Previously, Waymo’s funny-looking, self-driving Jaguar I-Paces were only available to people on a waitlist. But now anyone in San Francisco can download the app and hail their own robotic chauffeur. Even though it’s only been a couple of months, the now-widely available Waymo cars are aggravating the neighbors by beeping incessantly at four o’clock in the morning.
In between rides, many Waymo taxis return to the same parking lot to “rest,” while they wait to be hailed yet again. That parking lot sits between several apartment buildings and the taxis will beep at each other throughout the night, keeping the neighbors awake. “The cars are robotic and they’re honking at each other, and there’s no one in the cars when it’s happening,” Chris Cherry, a San Francisco resident, told NBC Bay Area.
Since the robotaxis park themselves in the parking lot, they need to find open spaces. Sometimes, while trying to autonomously navigate lots, they might get close to bumping into other parked Waymos, which will then send off warning honks when the parking Waymo gets too close, just like a human would if someone is about to back into their car. But because the parking lot is filled with dozens of Waymos running all night, that happens a lot.
According to the neighbors, the two times throughout the day when Waymos honk the most are around rush hour and 4 a.m. The former is likely due to the frequent usage, but the latter is an odd time. Maybe that’s when the tired little robotaxis retire for the night. I don’t think the neighbors care why, as the constant beeping keeps them awake.
“We love having them there, we just would like for them to stop honking their horn at four in the morning repeatedly,” said Cherry.
Fortunately, Waymo knows of the problem and is working on a fix. “We are aware that in some scenarios our vehicles may briefly honk while navigating our parking lots.” a Waymo spokesperson told NBC. “We have identified the cause and are in the process of implementing a fix.”
As annoying as it is for neighbors of the Waymo-filled lot, it’s undeniably funny watching the silly robot cars beep at each other. Even with the most advanced autonomous hardware and software in the world, they still act like a bunch of typical city drivers, honking at each other to complain about their crappy parking.
Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com