A warm April night on Filmore Street, one of San Francisco’s nightlife districts. Around half past one crowds of people have gathered on the sidewalks in front of the bars, parts of the party crowd are pushing further and further onto the streets. What then happens is an involuntary practical test for one of the most important future projects of the tech giant Google, whose goal is nothing less than to change road traffic forever.
When a self-driving car from the provider “Waymo” turns into the street, three young women make fun of it by suddenly jumping onto the street – walking backwards again and jumping onto the street again with a jerk. The game is repeated five times by the visibly drunk group, accompanied by cheering spectators.
Nobody is behind the wheel of the car, but two men are sitting in the back seat, looking annoyed. With every movement of the women towards the street, the car stops abruptly – only to start again shortly afterwards and stop again.