Review of Waymo Robotaxi incidents

Ajouté : 2026-06-05

[00:00:00]Self-driving Waymos are promoted as better than human drivers, and data shows that in many cases they are. But CNN found hundreds of incidents where Waymos allegedly made risky maneuvers and struggled with obstacles humans can instinctively handle, putting pedestrians, passengers, and others on the road in potentially dangerous situations.

[00:00:22]>> [laughter] >> That definitely ran a red light. Oh my god.

[00:00:25]>> We dug into public records, looking at calls for service, police reports, and city council meetings.

[00:00:35]And they showed that these robo-taxis sometimes break basic traffic and road rules, causing safety hazards.

[00:00:42]>> Connected to rider support.

[00:00:44]>> Hi, the the car is going the wrong way.

[00:00:46]It's going on the wrong side of the road.

[00:00:48]>> Oh, The Waymo's on the track. What an idiot. Here comes the train.

[00:00:53]>> This is in Phoenix. The Waymo drove onto the light rail tracks with a passenger still inside. Light rail workers responded, and the passenger got out okay.

[00:01:02]>> Oh, get out. Get out. Get out.

[00:01:04]>> Waymo says peer-reviewed data of more than 170 million miles driven by its robo-taxis shows the Waymo driver is better than humans at avoiding crashes that result in injuries. [music] Waymo tells CNN it safely completes more than half a million rides every week.

[00:01:20]And those smooth, uneventful rides, they don't go viral. The company shared this video with us of several close calls, Waymos showing off the ability to swerve last second and dodge people, possibly better than [music] a human driver could. The company says when their cars face an uncertain situation, >> [music] >> they'll pick the safest option, including coming to a stop. Waymos can also send a request to its 70 available human assistance operators who give it a suggested maneuver, but the car can still decide to accept or reject the advice. No technology is perfect, Waymo says in a statement to CNN. "Waymo takes community feedback and applies [music] those safety learnings to our entire fleet. That has led to a 13 times reduction in serious injury crashes compared to human drivers."