Driverless Waymo taxis recently made news for driving the wrong way into traffic. However, as this list will show, self-driving robotaxis doing things like this is nothing new.
Wrong way through a drive-thru in Los Angeles
Most recently, a Waymo robotaxi went viral after entering a drive-thru the wrong way in Los Angeles on Friday. Not only did it enter the drive-thru going the wrong direction, it didn’t even really slow down while it was doing so.
The son of the woman who ordered the Waymo caught the wild scene on video. Needless to say, he was a little hesitant about getting into the robotaxi.
Waymo goes the wrong way in a Texas school zone
Last Wednesday, another Waymo robotaxi caused a stir when it drove the wrong way on a one-way street. Making matters even worse, it did so in a school zone while kids were present. A police officer who was there could do nothing to stop it.
“The Waymo car actually evaded and went around the cop, and we had to back out of the walkway,” an unidentified parent said. “I mean, this is a busy time. There were kids, parents everywhere. Cars. It’s rush hour.”
Waymo vehicle tries to drive the wrong way onto an HOV lane
This past March in Houston, a Waymo vehicle was caught on video trying to go the wrong way onto an HOV lane during rush hour traffic.
“Definitely not safe because nobody knew what it was going to do, that was the scary part, nobody knew what that car was going to do, if there was a driver in it, maybe they could say, ‘Hey, I’m doing this, or I’m doing that, but it’s just sitting there,'” a witness said.
Waymo robotaxi stops in the road blocking first responders
Also in March, Austin, Texas, first responders had to deal with a driverless Waymo car blocking personnel near a mass shooting situation. The robotaxi blocked the road for more than a minute and appeared to cause an ambulance to turn around.
“I will say that we’re already in touch with Waymo and the autonomous vehicles to give them our concerns and work with them to try to address this moving forward,” Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said after the incident.
Waymo self-driving car drives on train tracks in Phoenix
This past January, Phoenix police had to respond to calls about a Waymo self-driving car traveling on light-rail tracks. In the video of the scene, railcars are seen moving towards it in both directions. A passenger can be seen exiting the vehicle, then the car continued on down the track.
“The cars they very intentionally follow mapped-out roads,” said Andrew Maynard, a professor at Arizona State University who teaches advanced technology. “They’re good if there’s, say, road works there, but not so good if there’s been a structural change to the road setup.”
Waymo robotaxi drives into an active police scene in L.A.
In December, a robotaxi operated by Waymo had police officers screaming at it when it drove into a felony stop that involved the cops pulling their guns.
“Go to your left! Go to your left!” a police officer could be heard yelling at the Waymo.
Waymo drives into oncoming traffic in Arizona
Showing that this is not a new problem, in August 2024, a Waymo self-driving car was traveling near Arizona State University. It almost caused a head-on crash. Two women who encountered the robotaxi filmed the craziness as it happened.
“If a person made that mistake…I don’t think you should have your license,” one of the women said. “If you pull the Waymo over, like, odds are there’s probably not going to be a driver in it. Who is held accountable for those individual mistakes?”