https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/08/self-driving-waymo-cars-keep-sf-residents-awake-all-night-by-honking-at-each-other/

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The ghost in the machine --

Self-driving Waymo cars keep SF residents awake all night by honking
at each other

Haunted by glitching algorithms, self-driving cars disturb the peace
in San Francisco.

Benj Edwards - Aug 13, 2024 7:44 pm UTC

A Waymo self-driving car in front of Google's San Francisco
headquarters, San Francisco, California, June 7, 2024.
Enlarge / A Waymo self-driving car in front of Google's San Francisco
headquarters, San Francisco, California, June 7, 2024.
Getty Images

reader comments

84

Silicon Valley's latest disruption? Your sleep schedule. On Saturday,
NBC Bay Area reported that San Francisco's South of Market residents
are being awakened throughout the night by Waymo self-driving cars
honking at each other in a parking lot. No one is inside the cars,
and they appear to be automatically reacting to each other's
presence.

Videos provided by residents to NBC show Waymo cars filing into the
parking lot and attempting to back into spots, which seems to trigger
honking from other Waymo vehicles. The automatic nature of these
interactions--which seem to peak around 4 am every night--has left
neighbors bewildered and sleep-deprived.

NBC Bay Area's report: "Waymo cars keep SF neighborhood awake."

According to NBC, the disturbances began several weeks ago when Waymo
vehicles started using a parking lot off 2nd Street near Harrison
Street. Residents in nearby high-rise buildings have observed the
autonomous vehicles entering the lot to pause between rides, but the
cars' behavior has become a source of frustration for the
neighborhood.

Christopher Cherry, who lives in an adjacent building, told NBC Bay
Area that he initially welcomed Waymo's presence, expecting it to
enhance local security and tranquility. However, his optimism waned
as the frequency of honking incidents increased. "We started out with
a couple of honks here and there, and then as more and more cars
started to arrive, the situation got worse," he told NBC.

 

Further Reading

On self-driving, Waymo is playing chess while Tesla plays checkers

The lack of human operators in the vehicles has complicated efforts
to address the issue directly since there is no one they can ask to
stop honking. That lack of accountability forced residents to report
their concerns to Waymo's corporate headquarters, which had not
responded to the incidents until NBC inquired as part of its report.
A Waymo spokesperson told NBC, "We are aware that in some scenarios
our vehicles may briefly honk while navigating our parking lots. We
have identified the cause and are in the process of implementing a
fix."

The absurdity of the situation prompted tech author and journalist
James Vincent to write on X, "current tech trends are resistant to
satire precisely because they satirize themselves. a car park of
empty cars, honking at one another, nudging back and forth to drop
off nobody, is a perfect image of tech serving its own prerogatives
rather than humanity's."

reader comments

84
 
Benj Edwards Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and
founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a
widely-cited tech historian. In his free time, he writes and records
music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in
Raleigh, NC.
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