San Francisco drivers faced an unusual roadblock Tuesday night when a fleet of Waymo self-driving taxis made a wrong turn on a closed off-ramp, causing a traffic jam on the Highway ramp. 101.
A Reddit user captured this incident on video as confused drivers maneuvered around a stationary robot taxi after civilians intervened to move the cones construction and signs to clear the way.
After waiting in the car for a few minutes, several people got out and began moving traffic cones and construction signs to allow traffic to pass,” the Reddit poster said. Waymo, owned by tech giant Alphabet, confirmed to The Standard that six of its vehicles were involved in the incident.
The incident occurred while a robotaxi was returning to a warehouse in San Francisco around 9:30 p.m. to be followed. “The Waymo driver stopped in a safe location, out of the travel lane, in a conical area,” a Waymo spokesperson said. Self-driving cars, which were not allowed to travel on the Bay Area highway without a human on board, were unable to reorient themselves and thus caused more problems.
Within 30 minutes, Waymo’s roadside assistance team fixed the traffic problem.
Although resolved quickly, this incident has raised public concerns about the integration of autonomous vehicles in high traffic areas.
Not recently since this incident have automated taxis been criticized for situations where they block traffic flow or create congestion, as evidenced by a series of reports from cities where Waymo operations, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, TexasIssue 101 sparked debate about the reliability of self-driving vehicles and the ability of robotaxi services to meet urban transportation needs. According to a Washington Times article, Waymo is looking to gradually introduce automated taxi services on other states’ highways before tackling the unique challenges posed by California’s highways. In particular, safety officials point out that it is impossible to quickly contact driverless vehicles when incidents occur or issue tickets, a problem that has not yet been fully resolved with current technology.
