Sharing the road with aggressive drivers

An aggressive vehicle cuts off one of our autonomous trucks, prompting the Aurora Driver to slow down to provide additional room on the road.

The Aurora Driver is designed to drive safely and reliably as we transport goods and passengers in autonomous vehicles. However, other drivers don’t always demonstrate the same level of care.

In this video, the Aurora Driver encounters a driver aggressively speeding and swerving between lanes. The vehicle cuts in front of the Aurora Driver with less than 3.5 feet of clearance and the Aurora Driver slows down just in time to avoid a collision. The vehicle continues to veer to the right and nearly collides with another vehicle the next lane over. 

Additional info: We’ve trained the Aurora Driver to react quickly to vehicles driving recklessly based on how expert commercial drivers respond to similar scenarios.

Further reading: Forecasting: Understanding Interaction