Photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP / Getty Images
A driverless Waymo vehicle inadvertently drove passengers into the middle of a tense police standoff in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday (November 30). The incident was captured on video and quickly spread across social media. The video shows the Waymo robotaxi making a left turn onto a street where a white pickup truck was pulled over by several police cruisers with flashing lights. The suspected driver of the pickup was lying face down on the street, surrounded by officers giving commands.
Despite the police officers yelling at the vehicle to move away, the Waymo car initially slowed down and signaled a right turn. Officers were heard instructing the vehicle to "Go to your left! Go to your left! Go through." The vehicle eventually cleared the scene in a matter of seconds, and the passengers reached their destination safely, according to a Waymo spokesperson.
Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, has been operating in Los Angeles since November 2024. While the company boasts over 100 million miles driven without a human behind the wheel and no fatalities, it has encountered several issues since its public launch. These include incidents like cars being torched during protests and a cyber-prank that sent multiple vehicles down a dead-end street in San Francisco.
Waymo stated that safety is their highest priority and they learn from unusual events like this one to improve road safety. The Los Angeles Police Department has been contacted for further details about the standoff.
You can watch a video of the incident below: