Video Shows Confused Police Pulling Over Self-Driving Taxi

That's a new one!

Stop, Drop, and Roll

A now-viral video of San Francisco police officers pulling over a self-driving taxi is as dystopian as it is hilarious.

Initially posted to Instagram, the video filmed in San Francisco's Richmond district shows SFPD officers drive up behind the parked autonomous vehicle — only to have it leap forward and pull over again a couple hundred feet up the road.

Throughout the encounter, bystanders can be heard laughing and shouting "what the fuck" as the confused police officers circle the car, presumably trying to figure out what to do with it.

 

Cruise Control

Owned by GM, the Cruise robotaxi company began offering free driverless nighttime rides to the public earlier this year, though people eager to beta test the service have to join a waitlist to do so, CNBC noted in its reporting on the incident.

In a response, Cruise said that the robotaxi did what it was supposed to do when confronted by law enforcement. And in a statement to CNBC, Cruise said that SFPD have a dedicated number to call when its officers pull over the company's robotaxis.

"Our AV yielded to the police vehicle, then pulled over to the nearest safe location, as intended," the account tweeted. "An officer contacted Cruise personnel and no citation was issued."

Given that this GM subsidiary is just the first of at least two autonomous taxi services to hit the Bay Area (along with Nuro, a driverless delivery startup), it's time we get used to this kind of hilarity — and hope it doesn't get any more dangerous.

READ MORE: Video shows what happens when a driverless car gets pulled over [CNBC]

More on self-driving: Experts Alarmed by Videos of Tesla Full Self-Driving Totally Screwing Up