Waymo is asking DoorDash drivers to shut the doors of its self-driving cars(techcrunch.com)

23 pointsby mfiguiere11 hours ago2 comments

miohtama10 hours ago
Sounds like something that engineers can solve near them and good findings of field testing.
- avree9 hours ago
  The only way a door gets left open is if someone orders a ride and leaves it open. That person is charged a fee, which pays for the Doordash person - which is cheaper than installing motors/automatic doors in every ride. And, there's good availability of Doordash (or Uber Eats, etc.) drivers in every market Waymo is in right now.
  Seems like a pretty good solution, honestly.
  - Ekaros8 hours ago
    Why isn't the loud audible warning? Maybe send notification? It seems insane to charge for this instead of adding big flashing warning light for example.
    avree7 hours ago
    The car announces on the outside speaker that the door isn't closed, turns its hazard lights on, and they send an app notification. Some people will still miss all of the above, or ignore it. Sometimes the seatbelt is jammed and stops the door from closing, and they assume the car is 'wrong' and walk off. There will always be edge cases, you build operational policies like the doordash one to cover them.
- hulitu9 hours ago
  It is already solved. But motors are expensive and the safety software also.
  - nottorp8 hours ago
    Might be cheaper to stick to DoorDash than replace doors when the "safety software" keeps the customers locked inside the car.
  - SkyPuncher8 hours ago
    I don't think it's terribly expensive or difficult. Many modern vehicles have power lift gates. Minivans have had power sliding doors for ages.
    Yes, it has cost, but this is a solved problem.
BugsJustFindMe7 hours ago
They could solve this in software by accelerating backwards and then hitting the brake.
- vrighter4 hours ago
  or just do a burnout forward.