Police in San Bruno had been patrolling for drunk drivers after they noticed a automobile touring erratically.
However this couldn’t be chalked as much as an impaired or distracted driver. There wasn’t anybody behind the wheel in any respect.
Officers had been bewildered to see the automobile — a self-driving Waymo robotaxi — make an unlawful U-turn at a visitors gentle proper in entrance of them, the San Bruno Police Division mentioned in a social media put up Saturday.
“It was a primary for each officers,” the division wrote within the put up, which included pictures of an officer peering by way of the entrance window on the empty driver’s seat.
As a result of the automobile didn’t have a human driver, officers couldn’t concern a ticket, police famous. As a substitute, officers contacted the corporate to allow them to know concerning the “glitch,” they mentioned.
“Hopefully the reprogramming will hold it from making any extra unlawful strikes,” police mentioned.
The incident highlights a spot in California regulation for the a whole lot of autonomous autos roaming the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
When self-driving automobiles violate the principles of the highway, regulation enforcement can’t penalize them the identical manner that they will people. The way in which state regulation has been interpreted, visitors tickets can solely be issued to an precise driver.
California lawmakers have sought to shut the enforcement loophole with new laws that may take impact in July — however critics say the regulation isn’t sturdy sufficient.
Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina mentioned the corporate’s autos are already topic to shut, ongoing oversight by California regulators, and that the corporate’s autonomous driving system “is designed to respect the principles of the highway.”
“We’re wanting into this case and are dedicated to bettering highway security by way of our ongoing learnings and expertise,” Ilina mentioned.
The brand new regulation, Meeting Invoice 1777, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom final 12 months and can permit law-enforcement businesses to report cases of autonomous automobile “noncompliance” to the Division of Motor Autos. The DMV is within the course of of hashing out the specifics, together with potential penalties.
The regulation in its unique kind would have allowed self-driving automobiles to be ticketed for visitors violations, nevertheless it was watered down with amendments late within the legislative course of.
Among the many regulation’s loudest critics is the Teamsters union, which has mentioned the regulation takes California “backward.”
“I wager on a regular basis Californians want that, after they made a mistake driving, they bought a courtesy be aware as an alternative of an costly ticket,” Peter Finn, the Western Area vp of the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters, advised Mission Native final 12 months.
The union has pushed for extra oversight of self-driving autos, akin to laws mandating human operators in autonomous heavy obligation vans and different supply autos.
California’s tack is much less heavy handed than Arizona or Texas, two different states with a notable autonomous automobile presence. Each states up to date their legal guidelines years in the past to permit officers to concern citations to the registered proprietor of the automobile, even when no human is current.
Self-driving autos have sparked security issues and drawn scrutiny at occasions, together with after a 2023 incident during which a pedestrian was severely injured by a Cruise automobile.
A number of points with Tesla’s autonomous expertise have additionally garnered criticism, with the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration opening a probe into the corporate after 4 collisions — together with one which killed a pedestrian — occurred whereas drivers allowed their automobiles to pilot themselves in low-visibility circumstances together with fog, airborne mud and solar glare.
Waymo, which is owned by Google’s dad or mum firm Alphabet, says that its autos are making cities safer, with its automobiles much less accident-prone than these operated by people.
Primarily based on knowledge collected by Waymo, their driverless autos within the 4 cities they function had 79% fewer airbag-deployment crashes, and 80% fewer injury-causing crashes than conventional autos driving the identical distance, as of June 2025.
