Fixie Bikes Confuse Google's Self-Driving Cars

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Hat tip, SFist: Fixie Bikes Confuse Google's Self-Driving Cars: Could This Become The Most SF Problem Ever?

How fixed-gear bikes can confuse Google’s self-driving cars

Innovations
By Matt McFarland August 26

Earlier this month in Austin, a cyclist and a Google self-driving car met at a four-way stop. This likely wasn’t the first time a Google self-driving vehicle has encountered a cyclist at a four-way stop. The company’s vehicles have driven more than 1.1 million miles in autonomous mode. ... But the encounter featured a twist — the cyclist was doing a track stand.

The cyclist recounted the encounter on an online bike forum:

The car got to the stop line a fraction of a second before I did, so it had the {right of way}. I did a track-stand and waited for it to continue on through.

But the track stand, which are generally done only by riders on fixed-gear bikes, quickly became a problem.

{Look inside Google’s new self-driving car}

The self-driving cars are notoriously careful, and tend to brake when anyone else is moving forward into the vehicle’s path. In a track stand, a rider on a fixed-gear bike may shift ever so slightly forward and back in an effort to maintain balance. (Watch video of a track stand {below}.) Also, a rider doing a track stand maintains the body position typical of a cyclist in motion, not one that is stopping. For riders of fixed-gear bikes, it can be a fun game to never have to put one’s foot down on the pavement, but instead balance at stop signs and red lights.
....

Of course, until this summer Google’s testing was centered near its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. In July, Google began testing in Austin, home to a lot more hipsters and fixed-gear bikes.