Police in San Bruno, California were on patrol for drunk drivers when they noticed a car driving erratically.
But this could not be attributed to the actions of a weakened or distracted driver. There was no one driving at all.
Officers were confused when they saw the vehicle, a Waymo self-driving robotaxi, make an illegal U-turn at a traffic light in front of them, the San Bruno Police Department said in a social media post Saturday.
“This was a first for both officers,” the department wrote in a release that included photos of the officer looking through the front window into the empty driver's seat.
Because there was no human driver in the car, officers were unable to issue a ticket, police said. Instead, officers contacted the company to inform them of the “glitch,” they said.
“We hope that reprogramming will deter him from further illegal activities,” police said.
The incident highlights a gap in California's regulations regarding the hundreds of driverless vehicles roaming the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
When self-driving cars break traffic laws, law enforcement cannot punish them in the same way as humans. As interpreted by state law, traffic tickets can only be issued to the actual driver.
California lawmakers have tried to close the enforcement loophole with a law that takes effect in July, but critics say the law is not strong enough.
Waymo spokeswoman Yulia Ilyina said the company's vehicles are already subject to close, ongoing oversight by California regulators and that the company's self-driving system is “designed to comply with traffic laws.”
“We are studying this situation and strive to improve road safety through our ongoing knowledge and experience,” Ilyina said.
The new law, House Bill 1777, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year and will allow law enforcement agencies to report instances of “non-compliant” self-driving vehicles to the Department of Motor Vehicles. DMV is clarification of details, including possible fines.
The law in its original form would have allowed self-driving cars to be fined for traffic violations, but it was watered down by amendments late in the legislative process.
Among the law's loudest critics is the drivers' union. who said the law takes California “backward.”
“I bet every day Californians wish they could get a polite note instead of an expensive ticket when they make a mistake behind the wheel,” Peter Finn, Western Region Vice President, International Brotherhood of Drivers told Mission Local last year.
The union is pushing for more control over autonomous vehicles, such as legislation requiring human operators to use autonomous heavy-duty trucks and other delivery vehicles.
California's policies are less restrictive than those of Arizona or Texas, two other states with a significant presence of autonomous vehicles. Both states updated their laws many years ago to allow officers to issue citations to the registered owner of a vehicle even if no person is present.
Self-driving vehicles have occasionally raised safety concerns and received scrutiny, including after a 2023 incident in which a pedestrian was seriously injured in a collision with a car. Cruise car.
A few questions Tesla's autonomous technology has also drawn criticism: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the company after four crashes, including one that killed a pedestrian, occurred when drivers allowed their cars to drive themselves in poor visibility conditions, including fog, dust in the air and sun glare.
Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, says its vehicles make cities safer and its vehicles are less prone to accidents than those driven by people.
Based on data collected by Waymo as of Junetheir self-driving cars in the four cities where they operate had 79% fewer airbag deployment crashes and 80% fewer injury crashes than traditional cars driven the same distance.
