- A Waymo autonomous car stopped on train tracks in Phoenix, prompting a passenger to exit.
- The incident occurred near ongoing construction and a recently added light rail track.
- Valley Metro confirmed the event and said it caused no major delays or injuries.
A dramatic video, highlighting the perils of autonomous vehicles, is being widely circulated on social media. The now-viral clip, captured in Phoenix, Arizona, shows a Waymo passenger jumping out of the self-driving car after it stopped on the rail tracks in the path of an oncoming train on Wednesday (Jan 7).
“Oh sh*t, the Waymo's on the track, what an idiot. Here comes the train,” the person filming the incident can be heard saying in the video as the car continues to drive down the tracks next to another train after the passenger had deboarded.
According to a report in the New York Post, the incident happened in an area where there was construction work ongoing. Additionally, the light rail had only been added within the last year, which couldhave confused the vehicle's operating system.
Valley Metro, which operates regional transit in the Phoenix area, confirmed the incident, adding that the control centre was immediately notified about the rogue car.
“At approximately 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a Valley Metro employee observed an autonomous Waymo vehicle on the northbound light rail tracks near Southern Avenue and Central Avenue in Phoenix,” the company said in a statement.
“The incident caused no significant delays and the scene was clear by 9:15 a.m. For any further information on Waymo, its vehicle or operation, please reach out to Waymo."
Check The Viral Clip Here:
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Previous Instances
This is not the first instance when Waymo robotaxis have run into trouble. Last month, a widespread power outage in San Francisco led to Waymo cars getting stuck at intersections with their hazard lights turned on, as traffic lights stopped working. A fire at a PG&E substation knocked out power to roughly one-third of the city on December 20, leading to a malfunction in the Waymo taxis.
With a fleet of more than 2,500 vehicles, Waymo primarily operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Metro Phoenix, Austin and Atlanta. However, after the incident, the company was forced to halt operations, resuming them a day later.
Wednesday's incident has once again renewed calls for stricter regulation of the developing but fast-growing industry as other companies, including Tesla and Amazon's Zoox race to expand robotaxi services in several cities.
