First, heavy rain turned one of its robotaxis into a stationary obstacle. Then, reports emerged of another blasting through construction cones on a freeway before being chased by police. Now, Waymo is hitting the brakes — hard.
The autonomous rideshare company has paused multiple services across the country following a series of troubling incidents, including a vehicle becoming immobilized during a torrential downpour in Atlanta and separate software failures on freeways in several major cities.
Waymo confirmed it has temporarily halted all freeway operations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami as it scrambles to update its software to better navigate construction zones. The company did not cite a specific incident, but a viral video on X (formerly Twitter) posted Monday by user @Elliot_slade appears to tell a different story.
The Freeway Incident
The video, which has since spread widely, allegedly shows a Waymo vehicle blasting through construction cones on a freeway. The robotaxi was subsequently chased by police, according to the user who posted the footage.
A Waymo spokesperson declined to confirm the incident but acknowledged the broader problem in an email statement: “We have temporarily paused freeway operations, as we work to integrate recent technical learnings into our software and expect to resume these routes soon.”
The company did not say when service in the four cities would resume, offering only that it expects to do so “soon.”
The Atlanta Downpour Disaster
The Atlanta incident, reported by Atlanta News First on May 20, occurred during heavy downpours that turned roads into rivers. A Waymo vehicle became completely stuck — unable to move, unable to complete its trip, unable to do anything except sit in the rain as a very expensive, very confused roadblock.
The rideshare company said services were paused to monitor weather conditions and will resume when it is safe to do so. But for critics of autonomous vehicle technology, the incident raised an uncomfortable question: if a robotaxi cannot handle rain, how can it handle America’s roads?
A Pattern of Problems
The flooding incidents are not the first time Waymo vehicles have struggled with unexpected conditions. During a PG&E power outage in San Francisco last December, Waymo’s fleet stalled more than 1,500 times for two minutes or longer, blocking intersections and, in at least one case, a fire truck responding to an active fire. The city’s 911 dispatch center called Waymo 31 times that night; one dispatcher was kept on hold for 53 minutes.
At a Board of Supervisors hearing in March, Waymo apologized for its response to the blackout but acknowledged that it still expects San Francisco first responders to help move malfunctioning driverless cars.
“In a sense, they’re becoming a default roadside assistance service for these vehicles, which we do not think is tenable,” Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the city’s Department of Emergency Management, said at the hearing.
The Recall History
This is not Waymo’s first mechanical rodeo. In February 2024, the company issued a recall after two of its cars in Phoenix crashed into the same vehicle while it was being towed. It has also issued recalls relating to Waymos colliding with gates, chains, telephone poles, and exhibiting erratic behavior around school buses.
Separately, Waymo is being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after one of its cars struck a child near a school in Santa Monica in January. The child sustained minor injuries, but the incident raised fresh questions about the safety of autonomous vehicles in residential areas.
The Bottom Line
Waymo has paused freeway services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami following software issues that reportedly caused one vehicle to blast through construction cones and be chased by police. The company is also monitoring weather conditions in Atlanta after a vehicle became immobilized during a downpour. Waymo says it is updating its software and expects to resume “soon” — but did not provide a timeline.
The company has a history of recalls and federal investigations. San Francisco officials have complained that Waymo expects first responders to serve as unpaid roadside assistance. And the viral video of a freeway incident has not been officially confirmed or denied.
Waymo’s robotaxis were supposed to be the future of transportation. Right now, they are mostly just stuck.
