Recalling a wild ride with a robotaxi named Peaches as regulators mull San Francisco expansion plan

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An Associated Press reporter recalls the first time he took a ride in a car without sitting in the driver’s seat. It happened one night last September when a Chevy Bolt named Peaches picked up the reporter outside a San Francisco bar. The half-hour ride was going fine until he neared his destination and the car started going in a different direction. He eventually made it out. The experience provided a snapshot of the often mysterious ways robotaxis have been malfunctioning in San Francisco, triggering a local backlash as state regulators prepare to vote on a proposed citywide expansion of the driverless vehicles this Thursday.