I don't understand all the debate. The _law_ is that when an emergency vehicle is behind you, you pull over to the side and make as much room as you can in the center of the road. The vehicle did not move out of the way, the company should be penalized heavily, as would a human driver.
Sure. What's the penalty for a human driver in that situation? Is it having the SFFD lie to the press about the events and imply you caused somebody's death?
If the story were "Cruise fined $5k for not yielding to an emergency vehicle quickly enough", I bet the tenor of the conversation would be totally different.
A human likely wouldn’t sit there failing to move over with an ambulance honking and blaring its sirens so this hypothetical is ridiculous, and the media isn’t slandering them by reporting on the incident. No one knows “what would have happened” for certain, and the headline only implies the mere possibility of causation (for anyone literate who reads it)
5k might be a heavy penalty for a normal driver, tho their are rich folks in SF that would see that as a mere inconvenience for their PA. The penalty would need to materially impact the company and its operations.
