[someperson]

Waymos are terrible at taking unprotected left turns into bumper to bumper traffic during peak hour.

They aren't aggressive like a normal driver when traffic is stopped and there's a clear but small gap that would result in the car being at an angle crossing traffic.

The lidar can't see any gap between cars when trying to turn into a more distant lane, so any obstruction to a close lane due to traffic kills them.

Source: been stuck in and observed Waymo in this situation for 10+ minutes several times.

A human driver is willing to make the turn much sooner.

Don't take a Waymo if you're in a hurry and the route will have such a left turns.

[strifey]

Anecdotally, they've gotten much more proactive at taking unprotected lefts in my experience.

[pesus]

They seem to be getting more proactive in general. I was surprised last night when the one I was in went full barrel through a light that was already yellow and turned red while we were still in the intersection.

[guiambros]

Ha, I had the exact same experience on a Waymo last night.

The light had just turned yellow before we entered the intersection, and I was sure it would slam the brakes (there was no one behind, so no risk of being read-ended). Yet it accelerated and cleared the intersection as the light turned red. It was what any reasonably good driver would do, but certainly edgy for a 100% law-abiding robot.

Pretty flawless experience.

[usefulcat]

I’ll definitely take that over the Lyft driver I once had who went through a red light 1-2 seconds after it turned red. Not that that’s typical for ride share drivers in my area, but still.

[RivieraKid]

When was the last time this happened to you?

[someperson]

Last Thursday. I called support after 10 minutes to cancel the ride but the car started moving while I was on the call.

That particular one was a traffic light green light with a "do not queue over intersection" area specifically designed to allow cars in my lane to turn onto the main road. The Waymo can't see that there's a gap in the lane it wanted to turn into, and was too conservative about queuing over the intersection at an angle when the light was green like any human would do.