LoginThree Waymos Got Stuck So Bad It Took A Human For A Happy Ending
- Three Waymo I-Paces froze in a San Francisco dead-end standoff.
- Two autonomous Jags made contact as a third robotaxi waited.
- A human Waymo employee arrived to manually clear the scene.
Self-driving cars are supposed to eliminate traffic jams, human error, and awkward you-turn-or-mine eye contact at four-way stops. But last weekend, three Waymo robotaxis in San Francisco proved that even artificial intelligence can panic when faced with a bad decision and no escape route.
The scene unfolded on a hilly residential street in North Beach, where a TikTok video captured what can only be described as a low-speed robot showdown. Two Waymo Jaguar I-Pace SUVs ended up nose-to-side at an intersection that also happened to be a dead end.
A third Waymo arrived moments later, assessed the situation like a confused NPC, and came to a complete stop, effectively sealing the street shut.
Related: Waymo Robotaxi Rolls Through LAPD Crime Scene As Suspect Is Held At Gunpoint
Bystanders watched from the sidewalks as the cars sat motionless, their sensors apparently locked in an eternal debate about who should move first.
One resident trying to leave the area summed it up best by asking whether the cars were “just going to stay there forever.” For a few long minutes, that seemed like a real possibility.
Autonomous paralysis
According to an ABC7News report, the two robotaxis may have lightly contacted each other while one attempted a turn on the tight street. The third vehicle, doing what it was programmed to do, detected an obstruction and politely waited.
Unfortunately, polite waiting does not help much when everyone involved is a robot and no one will make a move.
Eventually, a Waymo employee arrived to manually intervene and restore order, proving once again that the most reliable fail-safe in autonomous driving is still a human with the ability to hook reverse and take a look over his shoulder.
Waymo expansion
To be fair to Waymo, the company remains the poster child for functional robotaxis. Its vehicles log millions of miles in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, mostly without fault, and are now venturing onto freeways. The company recently launched in Miami and plans to add services in Dallas, Houston, San Antonia, and Orlando.
Those cities can expect to experience their own Waymo glitches in time because moments like this are a reminder that self-driving cars excel at following rules, but struggle with edge cases that humans solve instinctively.
