Even though self-driving cars are becoming popular worldwide, not everyone is happy about it. In Santa Monica, California, some people who were unfortunate enough to live near the Waymo depot found a terrible side effect of Alphabet’s self-driving cars: their incredibly annoying backing noise.
Local laws mandate that autonomous cars make a sound anytime they backup, which is something that frequently occurs when Waymos return to base to recharge, as the Los Angeles Times recently revealed.
“It is bothersome. This neighbourhood already has a lot of noise, and I don’t think it’s fair to add another level to it,” a local woman told KTLA. “I know some people have been kept up at night, and woken up in the middle of the night.”
Using a technique pioneered by activist group Safe Street Rebel in 2023, when self-driving cars first showed up on San Francisco streets, Santa Monica citizens blocked Waymos with traffic cones, personal automobiles, and even their own bodies.