Photo: ThisIsButter | Facebook
A police officer pulled over a Waymo driverless car in Phoenix, Arizona. He had noticed that the car was driving into an oncoming lane of traffic, started the lights and siren and went after it.
You would expect robotaxis to fail less. They don’t get tired, they don't drink and drive, and they don't get angry. However, their systems are far from perfect, and they can sometimes be more dangerous than human drivers. A video uploaded to social media confirms it.
The robotaxi was a Jaguar I-Pace with self-driving capabilities. But it is obvious that the system fails at times, and errors and glitches can lead to crashes. This is, however, a situation that was halted by police officers before it turned worse.
Bodycam footage from the scene shows the officer getting out of the police car and going to the unmanned vehicle. He walks to the Jaguar and sees that there is no one inside. Despite the offense, he could not write a ticket, and there was no driver to fine.
The Phoenix Police Department reports that the autonomous cab was spotted driving into an oncoming lane of traffic in a very dangerous maneuver, performed in a construction lane near Seventh Avenue and Osborn Road, and had run a red light prior to that. The dispatch records show that the car "freaked out." That is what the police officer wrote in capital letters.
Once the self-driving car stops and the cop walks to it, the driver's window rolls down. But there is no one to talk to. He eventually talks to a Waymo driver support operative through the car's onboard telecom system. The operator says they will check that information. "Your car was eastbound on a westbound lane," the officer explains.
The incident finished with the officer writing "unable to issue citation to computer." The events were reported by AZCentral. The publication contacted Waymo, but the firm claimed that the Jaguar "encountered inconsistent construction signage" and was blocked from navigating back into the correct lane for around 30 seconds.
The story matches the one coming from the police officer. However, no matter the reason, the maneuver was still dangerous to other traffic participants.
The current legislation makes no reference to autonomous cars receiving tickets. Neither do the firms coordinating the robotaxis get any fines for the way their cars behave in traffic.
Last month, Waymo had to issue after one of its robotaxis hit a telephone pole in Phoenix, Arizona. There was no passenger on board, but the autonomous vehicle was on its way to the location where it was supposed to pick up a client.
Furthermore, other robotaxi operators have been through hazardous situations for the past few months. For instance, over a dozen robotaxis belonging to Cruise caused a huge traffic jam in Austin, Texas, back in September 2023.
All of them, with no driver on board, stopped in a street in West Campus and were unable to drive away. Back then, Cruise explained that heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic led to the self-driving prototypes getting entangled in the street. The cars were programmed to stop as the safest move in a hazardous situation, and that was what they did.
The Cruise operators eventually managed to maneuver them out of the traffic jam remotely, and the cars drove away autonomously.
The robotaxi was a Jaguar I-Pace with self-driving capabilities. But it is obvious that the system fails at times, and errors and glitches can lead to crashes. This is, however, a situation that was halted by police officers before it turned worse.
Bodycam footage from the scene shows the officer getting out of the police car and going to the unmanned vehicle. He walks to the Jaguar and sees that there is no one inside. Despite the offense, he could not write a ticket, and there was no driver to fine.
The Phoenix Police Department reports that the autonomous cab was spotted driving into an oncoming lane of traffic in a very dangerous maneuver, performed in a construction lane near Seventh Avenue and Osborn Road, and had run a red light prior to that. The dispatch records show that the car "freaked out." That is what the police officer wrote in capital letters.
Once the self-driving car stops and the cop walks to it, the driver's window rolls down. But there is no one to talk to. He eventually talks to a Waymo driver support operative through the car's onboard telecom system. The operator says they will check that information. "Your car was eastbound on a westbound lane," the officer explains.
The incident finished with the officer writing "unable to issue citation to computer." The events were reported by AZCentral. The publication contacted Waymo, but the firm claimed that the Jaguar "encountered inconsistent construction signage" and was blocked from navigating back into the correct lane for around 30 seconds.
The story matches the one coming from the police officer. However, no matter the reason, the maneuver was still dangerous to other traffic participants.
The current legislation makes no reference to autonomous cars receiving tickets. Neither do the firms coordinating the robotaxis get any fines for the way their cars behave in traffic.
Last month, Waymo had to issue after one of its robotaxis hit a telephone pole in Phoenix, Arizona. There was no passenger on board, but the autonomous vehicle was on its way to the location where it was supposed to pick up a client.
Furthermore, other robotaxi operators have been through hazardous situations for the past few months. For instance, over a dozen robotaxis belonging to Cruise caused a huge traffic jam in Austin, Texas, back in September 2023.
All of them, with no driver on board, stopped in a street in West Campus and were unable to drive away. Back then, Cruise explained that heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic led to the self-driving prototypes getting entangled in the street. The cars were programmed to stop as the safest move in a hazardous situation, and that was what they did.
The Cruise operators eventually managed to maneuver them out of the traffic jam remotely, and the cars drove away autonomously.
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