Wrong-way driver: police stop Waymo's autonomous car in the wrong lane
Roadworks signs confused a Waymo self-driving car so much that it misjudged several situations at once.
To help the autonomous cabs find their way around San Francisco, vehicles with sensors and human drivers explore the city.
(Image: heise)
In Phoenix, a self-driving car from Waymo was traveling as a wrong-way driver. More than that, it also ran a red light and only came to a stop in a parking lot, where police officers were able to reach the vehicle's support staff. Autonomous cars are always connected to a control center where people can take over via a camera in the car. These are also supposed to be activated immediately if there are unclear situations. This obviously did not happen in the case of the construction site. There were no passengers in the car during the incident. Waymo manufactures so-called robotaxis that can drive both alone and with passengers.
A Waymo spokesperson explained to The Verge what happened: According to the report, the roadworks signage was inconsistent. It even prevented the car from "navigating back to the correct lane". The car is said to have been driving in the opposite lane for around 30 seconds before the police officer became aware of it and drove after it. The autonomous car then tried to drive away from the police officer in order to "clear the junction". The entire incident only lasted around a minute, Chris Bonelli told the magazine.
The incident was first reported by AZCentral, a daily newspaper from Phoenix. Police officers can actually issue tickets to autonomous cars, but these have to be delivered to the company that owns the car. However, this should not be possible in such a situation.
More than two dozen incidents involving Waymo robotaxis
Autonomous cars are repeatedly involved in traffic accidents. More than 25 incidents are currently being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)- the number relates exclusively to Waymo cars, i.e. Alphabet vehicles. The investigations concern further incidents in which cars have driven into oncoming traffic, collisions with parked cars and other stationary objects, such as a telephone pole, as well as disregarding traffic regulations.
Waymo has also launched a recall campaign due to a number of accidents. A software update is to be released for the affected vehicles. Waymo has attributed accidents to errors in the maps and codes.
(emw)