(Credit: Shutterstock / Phil Pasquini)
A Phoenix police officer pulled over a self-driving Waymo vehicle last month after the car drove into oncoming traffic.
Apparently, the vehicle became confused by construction signs in the area and ultimately ran a red light before pulling over in a parking lot so the office could speak to Waymo support representatives, The Verge reports.
In bodycam footage published by AZ Central, the officer can be heard telling Waymo support that the car “went into opposing lanes of traffic, which is real bad.”
According to Waymo, the car went into the opposing lanes of traffic due to “inconsistent construction signage,” and the vehicle ran the red light “in an effort to clear the intersection,”
Officers cannot give out tickets to self-driving vehicles, so no citation was issued.
In May, Waymo said that it was serving more than 50,000 paid, driver-free trips every week in its three major operating cities: Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The Waymo One service operates 24/7 in parts of all three cities. In Phoenix, the vehicles are also used for Uber Eats deliveries.
Cruise robotaxis are also driving around Phoenix at the moment, though a safety driver is in the car following a collision with a pedestrian in San Francisco.