The robotaxi company Waymo, owned by Alphabet, has once again been involved in an incident with one of its vehicles on the streets of Los Angeles. While the police were restraining a man, a driverless vehicle entered the scene, making a right turn when the officers had indicated it should turn left. This incident took place at Broadway and First Street, outside Times Mirror Square and the downtown federal courthouse, at 3:40 am on Sunday, and fortunately, there were no injuries, according to the company and the Los Angeles Police Department.
According to Waymo, the vehicle was stopped for more than 15 seconds and the company issued a statement ensuring that safety is its priority and that such incidents help them improve and correct the functioning of their vehicles. This is not the first headline involving the company, as since it opened its service to the public in November 2024, other incidents have occurred. This last incident did not require fining any driver, since there wasn’t any, but the company promised to fix the technical problem.
The rebellious Waymo vehicle
A recent incident occurred involving a Waymo self-driving taxi, owned by Alphabet, on the streets of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the event took place at Broadway and First Street, outside Times Mirror Square and the downtown federal courthouse, at 3:40 a.m. The encounter was captured on video by bystanders, showing an unmanned vehicle making a left turn and appearing in the middle of a traffic stop following a police chase in Los Angeles. According to the video, a police officer can be heard instructing the Waymo vehicle to turn left, but the vehicle did not comply.
Due to its disobedience, the police approached the vehicle with their weapons drawn, only to discover it was a self-driving taxi with no driver behind the wheel. The police stated that the proximity of the vehicle and the failure to avoid running the traffic stop with weapons did not affect the tactics the officers had to carry out, and the intersection was temporarily closed as is usual in these situations. The DPLA Traffic Coordination Division carries out protocols and policies related to driverless vehicles, and the police department says it is in regular contact with the company Waymo to stay informed about its technological advances.
What has Waymo said about it?
After stating that the incident lasted only 15 seconds, a Waymo spokesperson said, “Safety is our top priority at Waymo, both for those who choose to travel with us and for those with whom we share the streets. When we encounter unusual events like this, we learn from them to continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities.” Despite the incidents involving the company owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, it is expanding according to its website. They currently operate in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Phoenix, and will soon arrive in Miami and Orlando, Florida; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio; San Diego; Las Vegas; and Detroit.
Driverless car incidents
Although in July of this year, the company announced that one of its self-driving vehicles had traveled more than 160 million kilometers without any fatalities, the truth is that its name has appeared on several front pages due to unwanted incidents involving its vehicles. In June, a user allegedly sent, as a joke, 50 self-driving vehicles down a dead-end street in San Francisco, an event that went viral.
Another incident that took place in Los Angeles was the burning of five Waymo vehicles by anti-ICE protesters, and in September, during a DUI checkpoint operation, a self-driving car made an illegal turn in front of the San Bruno police. Despite the multiple incidents that have given the company unwanted publicity, it has announced that it will start offering highway rides, since until now its services were limited to city streets.