Investigation uncovers close calls with Waymo taxis

Added: 2026-06-06

[00:00:01]This [music] is getting by better, the daily update that pays off.

[00:00:06]>> A new investigation on the self-driving robo-taxi company Waymo has revealed some dangerous safety problems. So, you may have seen or even taken a Waymo throughout the city of Atlanta. Young Law has much more on this investigation.

[00:00:26]>> What the is that Waymo doing?

[00:00:29]>> Uh the Waymo's on the track.

[00:00:31]>> These are all Waymo robo-taxis, and you may have seen one of these videos on social media.

[00:00:38]>> That Waymo ran A RED LIGHT. OH MY GOD.

[00:00:41]>> As Waymo aggressively expands to new and more complicated cities, public records, [music] including calls for service, police reports, and city council meetings, finds hundreds of incidents where Waymos are confused in everyday moments, putting pedestrians, passengers, and others on the road in potentially dangerous situations. On its website, Waymo says its robo-taxis have driven more than 170 million miles through the end of last year. And it says [music] peer-reviewed data shows that Waymos are better than humans at avoiding crashes that result in injuries. The company shared this video with us of several close calls. Waymo's showing off the ability to swerve [music] last second and dodge people, possibly better than a human driver could.

[00:01:26]This is all pretty new tech, learning in real time. But we found it's creating a whole new set of safety problems. The incidents are just a snapshot of the concerns because federal and state rules don't require Waymo to fully track near misses and other safety issues.

[00:01:42]Waymo tells CNN it safely [music] completes more than half a million rides every week. And those smooth, uneventful rides, they don't go viral. But here's some key themes we did see in records.

[00:01:54][music] >> Connected to rider support.

[00:01:56]>> Hi, the the car is going the wrong way.

[00:01:58]It's going on the wrong side of the road.

[00:02:00]>> Over and over again, we came across reports of Waymo's breaking basic traffic and safety laws, like in this video from Austin, Texas, where a Waymo appeared to cross double yellow lines and drove on the wrong side of the road.

[00:02:13]>> Oh, the Waymo's on the track. What an idiot. Here comes the train.

[00:02:18]>> Or even going completely off [music] the road. This is in Phoenix. The Waymo drove onto the light rail tracks with a passenger still inside. Light [music] rail workers responded and the passenger got out okay.

[00:02:30]>> Oh, get out. Get out. Get out.

[00:02:32]>> There's any number [music] of reasons for what might be happening in moments like this when Waymo's appear stuck. The company says when their cars face an uncertain situation, they'll pick the safest [music] option including coming to a stop. Now, another possible explanation. Waymo says that at [music] any point in time they have 70 remote human assistance operators working. Half of them are based in the Philippines and [music] Waymo doesn't require that they have a US driver's license. When a Waymo faces an ambiguous situation, [music] it may send a request to those operators who can give it a suggested maneuver, but the car can still decide to accept or reject the advice. Another problem we kept seeing, how Waymo's respond [music] to ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks, failing to stop or even blocking the route entirely.

[00:03:23]First responders are even having to move the Waymo's themselves during an emergency.

[00:03:28]>> They're becoming a default [music] um assistance, roadside assistance for these vehicles, which I we we do not think is tenable.

[00:03:40]>> Now, Waymo released a statement saying that no technology is perfect, but they take community feedback and apply those safety learnings to their entire fleet.

[00:03:48]Still, to come