How self-driving cars could shut down a city

A power failure in San Francisco yesterday resulted in Waymos blocking intersections. As autonomous vehicles proliferate, they could block entire urban areas. We need a new plan.

The San Francisco Fire Department got a call yesterday at 2:14pm about a fire at the PG&E substation at 8th and Mission. The fire cut power for 130,000 customers citywide. (Coincidentally, the fire happened exactly 22 years to the day after a similar fire at the same substation on December 20, 2003.)

The outage disabled traffic lights, confusing Waymo se…