Waymo Spotted Driving the Wrong Way Down a Busy Street
You don’t share the road with robotaxis — the robotaxis munificently share the road with you. This week, one of Waymo’s fully driverless cabs was spotted blundering down the wrong side of a street in Austin, Texas, causing the human motorists driving in the correct direction to cautiously come to a halt, not unlike hikers encountering a bear. The incident was captured in footage uploaded to Reddit. For a split second, it shows the Waymo flash its emergency signal, before switching to its turn signal. The robotaxi then turns in the opposite direction indicated by its blinker and pulls into a gas station, taking its sweet time. “Just another day in Austin,” the uploader wrote in the caption.
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Frontage road chaos in downtown Austin
Local news site My San Antonio reports that the incident took place on a stretch of frontage road next to the Interstate 35 highway in downtown Austin. It’s another example of robotaxis acting with the kind of impunity to traffic laws you might expect from someone playing Grand Theft Auto. In fact, it’s not even the first time they’ve been caught driving on the wrong side of the road. Waymo may boast an impressive safety record, but its driverless cabs can still go off the rails in ways that can be comical, baffling, or genuinely dangerous.
A wave of incidents: school buses and safety investigations
This month, for example, Waymo recalled a software patch after its robotaxis were caught blowing past stopped school buses with active warning lights and stop signs, including at least one incident where a Waymo drove right by students who were disembarking. Twenty of these incidents were reported in Austin alone, MySA noted, prompting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to open an investigation into the company.
Police standoff and other dangerous moments
It’s not just school buses: the cabs don’t always stop for law enforcement, either. Earlier this month, a Waymo careened into an active police standoff, driving just a few feet away from a suspect who was lying facedown in the asphalt while cops had their guns trained on him.
Kit Kat and a dog in San Francisco
In San Francisco, Waymo sparked outrage in the community after one of its robotaxis killed a beloved bodega cat known to locals as Kit Kat. Another ran over a dog that witnesses say was playing in the street.
Aggressive driving software and Waymo’s response
These come as Waymo has been updating its cars’ software to drive more aggressively like a human motorist. “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 told MySA in a statement. “We take situations like this seriously and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience.”
About the author and related coverage
I’m a tech and science correspondent for Futurism, where I’m particularly interested in astrophysics, the business and ethics of artificial intelligence and automation, and the environment. More on Waymo: Waymo Paralyzed by Parade, Blocks Traffic for 45 Minutes I’m a tech and science correspondent for Futurism, where I’m particularly interested in astrophysics, the business and ethics of artificial intelligence and automation, and the environment.
