[opportune]

Same. As a pedestrian in SF I very frequently get put in danger by impatient human drivers at 4 way stop signs. No self driving car has ever put me in danger, and I interact with them quite frequently.

The national media of course wants to produce content confirming the biases of people who are (in the back of their minds) anxious about the prospect of SDC but don’t have exposure to them. I have a lot of exposure to them - not as an employee though - and think Cruise, Waymo, and Zoox are all doing a great job at being cautious and respectful with their testing programs. Sure they do get stuck sometimes, but human drivers disrupt traffic too, and honestly SDC are already better at being safe drivers around pedestrians and other vehicles than humans IME. It’s just that they are so cautious sometimes they just stop and create situations like this.

Most people who haven’t been living with SDC for years like we have in SF want to hand wring about them based on articles like this, but the reality is quite different. You’ll note you don’t hear much about the cars injuring people or getting in accidents despite the appetite for negative SDC media coverage.

[blueblimp]

It's interesting to hear your experience as a pedestrian, because it makes sense that cautious self-driving cars would cause fewer problems for pedestrians than for traffic. After all, a pedestrian has no problem dealing with a stationary car--just walk around it.

[WeylandYutani]

Do they have pedestrians or bicycles in San Francisco?

[RajT88]

I am guessing you've never been there. It's like any other big American city in that regard.

On top of that they have a bunch of electric scooters and electric skateboards and such.

[JohnFen]

> It's like any other big American city in that regard.

If so, then the answer is "largely no".

[RajT88]

Huh? Most big American cities have a lot of pedestrians and cyclists.

[ghaff]

You can argue how many cyclists and related vehicles there are in the grand scheme of things but there are a fair number of pedestrians at least during the day in (most?) US cities--that are meaningfully cities and not effectively suburbs that have a mayor.

[JohnFen]

Do they? Excepting for New York and "last mile" pedestrians, I haven't noticed that tendency much.

Although I also haven't been to any major cities in the southeast, so can't speak to them, and I haven't done any studies, so my impression could very well be mistaken.

Big cities I've been to in Europe, though, tend to have a lot of pedestrians and bicyclists.

[dysfunction]

SF proper is more like New York in that respect, it's much more dense and walkable than the average US city. The other bay area cities not so much.

[HDThoreaun]

Most big American cities have no pedestrians and minimal biking.

[addisonl]

Source?

[HDThoreaun]

I tried walking around sun belt cities. Would not recommend. Just looked at the top 20 american cities by population. I would consider 6 walkable or bikeable. Maybe 7 I've never been to columbus.