'Rogue' Waymo Snarls LA Traffic
A "rogue" Waymo robotaxi caused significant traffic jams in Culver City after stalling in a major intersection. The incident raises fresh questions about the operational reliability and safety of autonomous vehicles in dense, unpredictable urban environments.
This isn't the first time Waymo's fleet has struggled with urban complexity. In December 2025, a massive power outage in San Francisco caused over 1,500 of the company's autonomous vehicles to become inoperable. The vehicles, designed to treat darkened intersections as four-way stops, became overwhelmed, leading to a backlog of requests to remote operators and causing widespread gridlock. During the San Francisco incident, first responders were forced to manually move some of the stalled vehicles, diverting them from emergency situations. City officials expressed frustration, stating that police and firefighters were effectively turned into "roadside assistance" for the multi-billion dollar company. Waymo executives later admitted the company was overwhelmed by the volume of disabled vehicles, with only 75 employees available to intervene remotely. Waymo's service, which began as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, now covers over 120 square miles of Los Angeles County, including Culver City, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood. As of early 2026, the company operates roughly 700 vehicles in the LA area, primarily all-electric Jaguar I-PACE models equipped with lidar, high-resolution cameras, and radar. Nationally, between July 2021 and November 2025, there were 1,429 reported accidents involving Waymo vehicles. However, Waymo asserts that in the vast majority of cases, the human driver of the other vehicle was at fault. In Los Angeles specifically, 268 accidents were reported during that same period. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) oversee autonomous vehicle operations in the state. A new law taking effect in mid-2026 will allow police to issue a "notice of autonomous vehicle noncompliance" for traffic violations, closing a loophole that prevented ticketing vehicles with no human driver. Public perception of autonomous vehicles often turns more negative following widely publicized accidents or failures. Studies show that while people may be optimistic about the technology in general, specific incidents can significantly erode trust, underscoring the high stakes of every public stall and collision.
