The data proves that, generally speaking, Waymo robotaxis are better, safer drivers than humans. But nobody’s perfect, and they continue to get confused by the flashing lights of emergency vehicles (and even school buses). A recent incident caught on video shows a Waymo casually driving through the middle of a police felony stop in progress, something any human driver would know to stay far away from, thanks to the ocean of police cars with blue and red flashing lights on the other side of the intersection.
The video shows the Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi turning left at the tail end of a yellow light. Police have completely blocked the opposite side of the intersection and are conducting a felony stop, guns drawn, on a white pickup truck that is stopped in the intersection. The driver is already out of the truck and on the ground when the Waymo casually drives right past the truck, bringing its passengers into the potential line of fire. Then it slows down almost to a stop. Its right turn signal turns on briefly, indicating that it may even have been trying to pull over. Police yell at the robotaxi to keep moving, but of course, there is no human driver to respond to commands or prevent it from getting into this situation in the first place. Eventually, it continues on its way.
Fortunately, the pickup truck driver appears to be calm and compliant in the video, allowing police to apprehend him without incident. The Waymo passengers, who perhaps got a bit too close a look at LAPD procedures, were not in any actual danger. However, the potential was still there, and nobody wants guns pointed in their general direction.
An edge case
In a statement to NBC News, a Waymo spokesperson said “safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets. When we encounter unusual events like this one, we learn from them as we continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities.”
While police chases and felony stops are a part of everyday life in Los Angeles, this situation was unusual from the perspective of a robotaxi’s programming. It’s programmed to handle regular driving situations, not police with guns drawn while apprehending a suspect. It’s what programmers call an “edge case,” which, according to UXtweak, is “a specific situation, input, or condition that is at the extreme or boundary of what is considered typical or expected.” Having now encountered this situation, Waymo can add programming to make its robotaxis behave better in similar situations in the future. From the LAPD’s perspective, again from NBC News:
The department said the vehicle’s proximity and failure to avoid passing the guns-drawn traffic stop did not influence officers’ tactics. It said police subsequently shut down the intersection temporarily, as is customary for such a situation.
LAPD’s Traffic Coordination Division develops protocols and polices regarding driverless vehicles. It’s not clear whether it would investigate. The police department said the division is in regular contact with Waymo as the technology evolves.
Blocking the intersection would also have prevented anyone, including the robotaxi, from driving into the middle of a felony stop. Its basic programming to avoid crashing into solid objects would have taken care of that if a police car were deliberately parked in the way. Changes on both sides may be in order, particularly as more and more autonomous vehicles hit the road over time.
