Waymo, the robotaxi company that recently launched a test run on the congested streets of Manhattan and parts of downtown Brooklyn, has experienced some notorious, viral mishaps. These include the following:
- San Francisco residents were rudely awakened early one morning when a lot full of Waymo vehicles started honking at each other and wouldn’t stop.
- The Washington Postreported on dozens of incidents in which robotaxis interfered with San Francisco Fire Department activities between July of 2022 and 2023 – including driving through yellow emergency tape, blocking firehouse driveways and nearly running over a fire hose. An Instagram video, posted in June, shows a Waymo blocking a fire engine from crossing a San Francisco intersection, despite having its siren blaring and lights flashing.
- In Austin in April, a Waymo stopped in a merging lane of the MoPac Expressway and kept passengers locked inside as other cars whizzed by.
- Fox 7 reported on a list of complaints where Waymo vehicles were stalling, speeding and crashing.
- In August, the Detroit News reported that Waymos are “struggling to navigate construction zones.”
- In 2023, a Waymo hit and killed a dog, despite having a human “test driver” in the car.
- In June, a Waymo in Arizona was filmed going the wrong way and driving into oncoming traffic.
According to an article in The New York Post, the challenges Waymo vehicles would face if they attempted to operate citywide in NYC would dwarf those of other cities, thanks to delivery bikes ignoring red lights and stop signs, bus lanes that limit where car passengers can be picked up, rim-cracking potholes, jaywalkers emboldened by now having the law on their side and, of course, human drivers.
“I was just outside and saw all these vehicles [driven by humans] waiting [to go through a crosswalk] – and they had the right of way – but people just kept jaywalking right in front of them,” an anonymous transportation-industry insider told The Post. “Eventually the cars’ drivers kind of nudged through. There’s an art form to driving in New York … I can’t imagine a Waymo doing that right now.”
Waymo’s NYC test run was scheduled to end in late Sept., at which point the company had the option to apply for an extension. Anything beyond that would require legislation in Albany. According to Gothamist, Waymo has spent at least $630,000 lobbying local officials and lawmakers over the past five years.
Sources: The New York Post
