One Waymo passenger had an unnecessary brush with danger.
NBC News reports that a driverless Waymo robotaxi was literally just feet away from a tense Los Angeles police felony stop following a vehicle chase earlier in the day.
The entire ordeal made its way onto social media. In the clip, the robotaxi is just cruising through a situation where police officers have their weapons drawn while the suspect is lying on the ground.
Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Per NBC News:
The driverless vehicle could be seen in the video making a left turn and passing a white truck pulled over at the corner by several police cruisers with their lights flashing.
The suspected driver was face down on the street at the time, the video showed.
Immediately, police officers could be heard yelling at the vehicle to get away.
But instead of splitting, the Waymo appeared to slow down briefly and signal it was turning right.
“Go to your left! Go to your left!” a police officer was heard yelling at the wayward Waymo. “Go through.”
Meanwhile, the man on the ground looked up to see what was going on. Police are then seen in the video approaching him with their weapons drawn.
The Los Angeles Police Department said the incident took place about 3:40 a.m. at Broadway and First Street, outside Times Mirror Square and downtown’s federal courthouse.</p>
Waymo Is Dismissing The Ordeal
According to the LAPD, the driverless vehicle driving through the guns-drawn situation didn’t influence the officer’s approach to the moment, and they subsequently closed off the intersection.
Waymo is not stressing the incident, stating that it was only 15 seconds, and claims it will learn from the situation.
“Safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets,” a spokesperson for Waymo said. “When we encounter unusual events like this one, we learn from them as we continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities.”
This isn’t the first incident for the Alphabet-owned company since it began operating in November 2024.
Back in June, five Waymo vehicles were set on fire by anti-ICE protestors. Another incident in July, 50 Waymo vehicles were reportedly sent down a dead-end street by a cyber-prankster.
In another incident, a Waymo vehicle made an illegal turn in front of San Francisco police officers conducting a DUI stop in September.
The cops couldn’t give anyone a ticket because no one was driving.
Despite the missteps, Waymo does boast that its self-driving vehicles have logged more than 100 million miles without anyone behind the wheel.
We only expect more hilarious and potentially dangerous issues to arise as the company expands to Miami and Orlando, Florida; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio; San Diego; Las Vegas; and Detroit.
