People on TikTok Are Disabling Self-Driving Cars in SF by Putting Traffic Cones On Their Hoods

An anti-car account on Tiktok has shared a novel way to immobilize self-driving cars. According to a new video from @safestreetrebel on Tiktok, placing a traffic cone on the hood of a Waymo or Cruise self-driving vehicle will disable it in its place.

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A group of San Franciscans realized that they can disable Waymo and Cruise robotaxis by placing a traffic cone on the vehicle's hood.

They're now encouraging others to do it: "Hell no, we do not consent to this." pic.twitter.com/ZrYhy4OATy

— David Zipper (@DavidZipper) July 6, 2023

Naturally, Road & Track does not endorse disabling a self-driving car by putting something on its hood. And it should be noted that these driverless vehicle companies can take over their cars remotely—as they do when a self-driving car is in a situation it doesn't understand—or dispatch an employee to fix it. But the post shows a variety of clips of self-driving cars confused, blocking crosswalks, and stuck in weird situations across San Fransisco, and highlights how easy it is to disable them. A spokesperson for Waymo told Road & Track that "[n]ot only is this understanding of how AVs operate incorrect, but this is vandalism and encourages unsafe and disrespectful behavior on our roadways. We will notify law enforcement of any unwanted or unsafe interference of our vehicles on public roadways."

The TikTok account gives a motive beyond simple mischief, noting that the companies behind these driverless vehicles have provided videos from their multitude of cameras to police. Vice led the news that the SFPD was working with Waymo and Cruise in May of 2022, and it has been backed up with a report in Bloomberg in June of 2023. Both companies told Vice that they provide footage to law enforcement when subpoenaed or shown a valid warrant, as required by law, but Waymo notes its "policy is to challenge, limit or reject requests that do not have a valid legal basis or are overly broad.” Police have broad power to secure footage from a variety of private camera sources, including CCTV cameras, when they believe a crime has been committed in the area.

This traffic cone prank is only possible because multiple companies are now testing self-driving vehicles without safety drivers on public streets. With no human in the car, even a vehicle with the remote safety driver can't deal with external factors like a cone on its hood. Regardless, it's probably a good thing that the cars in the video put on their flashers and sit still when something like this happens. While the idea of an autonomous car slamming its brakes to throw a cone off certainly sounds entertaining to watch, we're glad these things aren't programmed to experiment in strange circumstances.

Road & Track reached out to Cruise for its comment on this video. We'll update the story if we hear back.

Via Twitter.

Reviews Editor

Arguably the most fickle member of the Road & Track staff, Reviews Editor Mack Hogan is likely the only person to ever cross shop an ND Miata with an Isuzu Vehicross. He founded the automotive reviews section of CNBC during his sophomore year of college and has been writing about cars ever since.

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