Concern Caused After San Francisco (CA) Fire Truck Blocked by Autonomous Car

A Cruise autonomous car. Photo via getcruise.com.

Early one April morning, a San Francisco Fire Department truck responding to a call attempted to pass a doubled-parked garbage truck via the opposing lane. However, a Cruise autonomous car was blocking its path, reports Wired.

The self-driving vehicle, of course, didn’t move, and the fire truck was only able to pass when a garbageman moved the truck, the report says.

The incident slowed crews’ response to the fire, which resulted in property damage and injuries, officials say. It has city officials worried about response times, as it’s the latest in a string of incidents involving Cruise vehicles, according to the report.

However, Cruise officials say the autonomous car correctly yielded to the oncoming traffic. In addition, they say that, via remote operations, the fire truck was able to move 25 seconds after the incident, the report says.

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Read more about the incident and its repercussions here.

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