- Footage obtained by San Francisco news site Mission Local shows police trying to stop a Waymo driverless taxi.
- The vehicle almost ran over an active fire hose.
- Waymo said it works closely with public safety agencies to train first responders to interact with its vehicles.
Driverless taxis carrying passengers all over San Francisco are a technological marvel and sometimes a nuisance.
In February, a robo-taxis operated by Waymo (owned by Alphabet) stumbled upon a fire caused by an explosion and was unable to escape. Reported by news outlet Mission LocalPolice officers screamed and did everything they could to keep the electric Jaguar from tumbling down a fire hose laid across the road. Body cam footage obtained at the outlet show.
“I don’t know what to do!” one police officer, standing in front of a disorganized car, shouted at a police officer with a camera across the intersection.
The second officer says, “Explode the flare,” hoping the rising smoke will prevent the taxi from advancing over the waterline. “No! No!” he yells, placing a burning flare on the ground in front of Waymo’s bumper.
After the officers turned away, the cab began to move forward again, eliciting taunts from one officer, one blocking the pass and the other two radioing the dispatcher and contacting Waymo. to ask for help.
“I’m kind of stuck. I got a self-driving car, a Waymo. It’s slowly approaching one of the main water lines that SF Fire just charged. I can’t get over it,” he said. says. “I don’t trust this AI.”
After speaking with a Waymo representative through the car’s speakers, one of the officers moves the car into the parking lot. A few minutes later someone shows up to rescue the car and drives it away.
A Waymo spokesperson told Insider that the company has improved its technology in the three months since the incident.
“We work closely with public safety authorities to ensure the safe deployment of our technology in every market in which we operate. As part of the training, Waymo provides an overview of best practices. We’re providing an explanation, sharing a first responder guide, and providing a phone number to contact Waymo directly for the event of the outage,” the spokesperson said.
Waymo operates self-driving taxis in San Francisco and Phoenix that customers can hail through an app.
Today’s driverless taxis on the road are spectacular, but still struggle to cope with unusual situations such as road blockages or orders from first responders.
A recent Tik Tok video that went viral shows a police officer repeatedly gesturing to stop a Waymo cab. Everyone in the car laughs and tries to tell the cops it’s out of control.