As far as robotaxis go, Waymos are supposed to be about as good as it gets. No one at Waymo is talking about selling these vehicles to the general public, they’re covered in arrays of advanced sensors that Teslas don’t even bother trying to match, and plenty of people who have ridden in them got where they were going without any issues. Even Waymos still have problems, though. Like one of their cars apparently speeding past the police blockade you’ll see in the video below.
A viewer identified as @luluesque allowed ABC7 News to use the video they captured of what appears to be a pass that would immediately lead to a human driver being pulled over and ticketed. Two police cars are weaving to slow down highway traffic, performing what’s known as a “traffic break,” a pretty common situation in California — in this case, because there’s a construction vehicle ahead, with workers standing in the freeway. The Waymo attempts to speed past in the left lane, before the police cars maneuver themselves to block it from getting by.
Of course, since the Waymo in question was a robotaxi, there was no driver to cite. You also don’t have to be a traffic nerd to understand why it’s so dangerous for robotaxis to still need more training when it comes to safely and legally operating around emergency vehicles.
I do what I want
In Waymo’s defense, there’s no way its robotaxis could be more dangerous that Teslas running a glorified version of the same so-called “Full Self-Driving” software that recent testing found loved to speed, illegally pass cyclists, and ignore various other traffic laws. Much like impressing a woman romantically, the bar for beating Tesla on safety is in hell, and we would all expect Waymo to clear it with minimal effort. “Significantly safer than Tesla” means about as much as “way safer than juggling kitchen knives.”
Waymo’s robotaxis don’t exactly have a spotless record either. From things like getting stuck in a three-way standoff to honking all night, dooring a cyclist into another Waymo, hitting a child that darted out in front of one, recently having to pause highway operations, and more, Waymo’s robotaxis have made more than their fair share of mistakes along the way. And with so many of them clogging up the roads in cities all across the country, it’s always important to remember they’re still imperfect. I’d still ride in a Waymo 10 times before I’d ride in a Tesla robotaxi once, but even Waymos still have issues.
