This is a video from San Francisco of a Waymo self-driving taxi encountering an open fire hydrant and being unable to assess the situation. It doesn’t want to drive through the water, but it doesn’t want to enter the protected bike lane either. Apparently in a situation like this the car would actually send a request for a remote-assist so an operator can review the situation and tell the vehicle how to proceed. Which, at least in my mind, would be to drive directly on top of the hydrant to protect other self-driving vehicles. Take one for the team, you know? Hive mind that hydrant. No word if it left the meter running.

Edge cases amirtie @Waymo pic.twitter.com/sAxrZ61Q60

— Dan Goodman 🍊 (@Dan_The_Goodman) October 18, 2024