Waymo self-driving vehicles are notorious for doing things that would never be done with an actual human behind the wheel.
From flying through construction zones with terrified passengers on board to gathering together and driving around in circles around a cul-de-sac, terrifying residents, Waymo vehicles are almost constantly in the news for acting up.
The most recent case of such misbehavior occurred in Denver this past weekend when a Waymo drove through barricades into a Colorado farmers market. Thankfully, the Waymo didn’t hit anyone or cause any damage, but it still caused problems because there was nothing vendors could do to stop it and no one for the police to ticket.
The driverless Waymo rolled past barricades and a stop sign into the farmers market on South Pearl Street in Denver on Sunday morning, while vendors were still setting up their stalls. Theodore Subbotin, market manager for Hearth Denver, said that since there was no driver to flag down, staff had to “usher it out” of the area, shouting warnings to nearby people and hoping it didn’t hit anything or anyone.
With no driver, there was not much the vendors, or the police, could do
“There is no driver or anyone in the car,” Subbotin told 9 News. “You can’t get the car out like you would with a normal driver.”
“I was actually, um, at the end of the road there chatting to some vendors, and there was kind of like commotion,” Shari Wilkins, assistant manager of the market, said. “People were like, ‘Oh my god, there’s a Waymo driving down’”.
The Waymo passed the barricades at Washington Street and Florida Avenue before proceeding through the market, even though the street was completely off-limits to traffic, according to market organizers.
“Fortunately, (the Waymo) was traveling the correct flow of vendor setup and went slowly, avoiding all obstacles,” market coordinator Marilyn Kahlich told the Denver Post.
Not only was there little the vendors could do, but Denver Police also said they lacked the legal authority to issue a citation without a driver. The Colorado State Patrol reached the same conclusion and said no trooper had ever pulled over a Waymo vehicle.
According to the Denver Post, a Waymo representative said that when the farmers market setup began, the Waymo was already traveling to a destination on South Pearl Street. Once inside the farmers’ market, it recognized the situation and tried to leave the area.