Google's antonymous taxi company says it won't obey traffic safety laws because its customers want convenience, so screw those bicyclists who don't want to be injured or killed.

[cascheranno@hachyderm.io]

@dangillmor ah, because ‘the system’s programming supersedes a law’ is a widely-recognized and legitimate legal defense.

[hadewych@mastodon.nl]

@dangillmor we wisten toch al dat ict boven de wet staat?

[drs1969@mstdn.social]

@dangillmor Well they gonna have a great time with London’s traffic cameras and the even more feared traffic wardens. And then London’s cycling community will probably want to have a chew on them as well.

Idiots.

[toriver@mas.to]

@cascheranno @dangillmor The «code is law» bros from the crypto scene have moved over to the autonomous industry?

[drewtowler@mas.to]

@dangillmor Expecting me not to stick a knife into a waymo tyre is just too high a bar.

[renardboy@mastodon.social]

@dangillmor caltrops.

[ghostonthehalfshell@masto.ai]

@toriver @cascheranno @dangillmor

They were always there

[yetzt@social.yetzt.me]

@dangillmor antonymous? are they meaning the opposite of what they say?

[mastodonmigration@mastodon.online]

@dangillmor

They just keep leaning into the "be evil" don't they?

[jerrej@mastodon.social]

@yetzt @dangillmor

waymo - noun from the verb "to waymow", coined from "to lawn-mow", but applied to road usage. Ex.: "His ride then waymowed across the bike lane to take a legal turn on red, cannoning directly into two crossing pedestrians."

[cgudrian@social.tchncs.de]

@dangillmor I guess society is no longer bound to laws either, then? “What a nice autonomous taxi you have there. Would be a shame if anything happened to it…”

[kowalski@chaos.social]

Why we don’t build autonomous walking Robots by our own? They may not be able to respect these self-driving cars. They may not know that a hammer hand has another primary function. But who cares!

@dangillmor

[ovoao@mastodon.social]

@dangillmor

If I understand correctly, this is just for picking people up and dropping them off. Every normal taxi would also do that.

[fenixmaster@mastodon.social]

@dangillmor Google shouldn’t put it like that; otherwise, their cars will end up being flipped upside down by an angry member of the public wielding a shovel.

[fenixmaster@mastodon.social]

@dangillmor The tires, it is always the tires, the weakest point of a car.

[sgail@mastodon.scot]

@yetzt @dangillmor Hah. I was looking at it and trying to figure it out. I got as far as "of the other name" or "of the opposing name".

Ans then I decided to stop because I was afraid of generating a mild conspiracy theory.

[sgail@mastodon.scot]

@dangillmor I did not know Waymo was Google. I keep seeing their propaganda pushed by YouTube, with the remarkably implausible woman saying something like, "Because I have kids and I worry about their safety on the roads I'm really looking forward to autonomous vehicles driving around in Britain".

If the 'Sure, Jan' meme was made for anything, it's those 'ads'.

[nakedgerry@mastodon.social]

@dangillmor @paulk Grief! These things are going to be so unpredictable that they will be lethal and should just be banned.

[peter_slwk@mastodon.social]

@fenixmaster @dangillmor Or just some chalk (or salt) ...

[newint@todon.nl]

@dangillmor Which problem do these self-driving vehicles solve, which issue is so pressing, that we have to dedicate development time and sacrifice existing infrastructure? We don’t need flying taxis and self driving cars. We need separate bicycle lanes, affordable and reliable public transport, clean air, etc. which benefit all, not just some tech companies.