WATCH | Protesters in US are disabling self-driving cars by placing cones. Know why

Safe Street Rebel, an organisation batting for pedestrian safety and reducing the number of cars on roads, has employed a novel method to lodge its protest against driverless cars. In the US city of San Francisco, the members of the group are placing traffic cones on the hoods of driverless vehicles which bring them to a halt.

A video of the protest with step-by-step instructions on how to disable autonomous vehicles (AV) is going viral on social media platforms. According to the group, the cone protest is a way to build 'cone-sensus'against driverless cars.

“It’s a great time.We’re not damaging anyone’s property, it’s very fixable, but it is a funny and effective tactic that has really resonated," one of the protesters was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Why the protests?

One of the organisers who wished to remain anonymous saiddriverless cars pose many risks to safety and the environment but are being sold as a strong alternative to vehicles driven by people.Their emergence also has had a negative effect on the public transport system, the group argues.

“They still require wide roads, tire wear they have cameras everywhere. It’s not just about ‘are they safer than a human driver?’ We want healthy cities that don’t require these high tech surveillance pods moving around."

With Silicon Valley a few miles away, San Francisco has emerged as the top urban location for AV testing and deployment. However, it has enraged a significant proportion of the public. The driverless cars on several occasions have been accused of holding up traffic, stopping in the middle of the road and even hitting a few pedestrians and animals.

Netizens divided

Netizens were divided after watching the video of the stunt. Some said they were happy that action was being taken while others said it was stupidity.

"We here hate the driverless cars, so this is very nice. A cone in time saves nine," said one netizen, while another added, "And they say the soul of SF is dead. lol look a this! It’s harmless but makes it’s point. What a brilliant way to protest the proliferation of yet another major street hazard deployed without much consideration for the community."

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Meanwhile, those against the protest said, "It's interesting to see something so similar to classic anti-vax sentiment, but coded differently—blanket scepticism about a useful technology that directly addresses a major cause of unnecessary deaths."

"Wait, they’re complaining about AVs blocking traffic and their solution is to put cones which cause AVs to… stop and block traffic? Make it make sense. Also, if you see a cone on a poor Cruise bb, take it off. Help get traffic flowing again," added another.

Companies such asCruise, a subsidiary of General Motors andWaymo, a Google spinoff among others will be attending a vote by theCalifornia public utilities commission on 13 July. If voted in favour, it will allow the car companies tocharge people for rides aspart of the state’s driverless autonomous vehicles programme.

(With inputs from agencies)

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