We all know that feeling of panic when being hailed over by the police, anxiously awaiting their arrival at the window, unsure if they will give us a ticket or let us off with just a warning. Once we hear the police siren, it's game over, and we are at the mercy of the policeman. As it turns out, this is only the case for regular drivers. Apparently, if you're an autonomous, self-driving car, you have other options to get away with your road misconduct.
In a now-viral video recorded in San Francisco, a driverless car is seen being pulled over by the police for supposedly not having its lights on. An officer walks up to the car door to see no one in the driver's seat. Surprised by his findings, he attempts to open the car unsuccessfully and walks back to his own vehicle. In the hilarious clip, the car then drives off with speed, like a mischievous school kid, seemingly to escape any further police inspection. LOL.
The video continues to show the car turning its hazard lights on and pulling up again further down the road for the police to deal with there. In a statement on Twitter, the car brand said, "Our AV yielded to the police vehicle, then pulled over to the nearest safe location for the traffic stop, as intended. An officer contacted Cruise personnel, and no citation was issued." Regardless of the clarification, this didn't stop the internet from going wild over the hysterical rebellious automobile.
Welcome to the future. Cop pulls over driverless car (because no lights?) Then Cruise goes on the lamb. (via https://t.co/mtmsIeOAUP) pic.twitter.com/ecQ5xXuSnS
— Seth Weintraub (@llsethj) April 10, 2022
"This is sooo priceless... haha," laughed one Twitter user in response to the video. "All I kept thinking was 'please drive away again, please drive away again'… LOL," joked another comment. Others were quick to point out the incident's connection to the concerning discussion around the future of robots. "The future is here. Next up: robot dog gives you a parking ticket," a comment teased. One user responded with a picture of the movie Runaway which features robots programmed to attack. Is that where we're heading with this? Let's quit while we're ahead here...
