Another Waymo robot got stuck in a police crime scene and was driven away by a valet/LAPD: Fountain & Cherokee, Los Angeles "11:00am: Murder suspect took LAPD on a chase from Sunset. Crashed and flipped his SUV." OP: x.FilmThePoliceLA first ~20 sec removed to fit bsky 3 min limit

In the teens to police via Waymo robot + telops incident, we don't know if their Passenger Monitoring System (PMS) alerted telops to check the interior camera(s), and if so, why it took so long the incident escalated to police. Also, did a telop contact the passengers to try to get them to stop?

Zoox answer to common complaints about the poor/atrocious view out the front of their undrivable robot focuses on the view out the top. Definitely not the best view in San Francisco, though maybe fastest to motion sickness. "The best view in the city. Day or night (stars included)" OP: tiktok.zoox

Another way to move a Waymo: Rosewood Ave & Huntley Dr, West Hollywood, CA OP: tiktok.talvino

~5 years late, but NHTSA finally said it: [AV's] inability to detect and appropriately respond to such [first responder] situations represents a functional insufficiency. Emergency scenes are not rare or extreme "edge cases." Meetings & reprioritizing won't fix this. Over trust and don't verify.

Poor reporting. US Uber drivers have been complaining about Uber taking increasing % of ride revenue for a while. Waymo is not big enough in Atlanta to have had much impact on this, other than perhaps giving Uber an excuse to distract reporters from what Uber has been doing, which is harder to see.

Waymo finally announced they're testing "the Hyundai IONIQ 5—autonomously with a specialist present" Waymo calls a robot w a safety driver "autonomous" and a robot without a safety drive "fully autonomous." If they ever drive without telops they could call it "actually fully autonomous."

driver redundancy > sensor redundancy is an interesting path to autonomy or whatever it is Tesla is doing

False positive for a 41 year-old and false negative for a 15-year-old who then allegedly shot a toy gun out of a Waymo robot possibly while drunk. IDK the SOTA for camera-based age verification/guessing, but this seems not so good/reliable.

icymi This is an example of the kind of visible status indicator I've been recommending be standardized & required for public road robots. Seems odd & maybe wrong that it's only visible from behind. This could be an interesting story if a Waymo UX person would explain what they've done and why.

Many (prob >30) Waymo robots have had tires slashed, but not many have had them & their wheels stolen. One person allegedly slashed the tires of 17 Waymo robots in San Francisco, IIRC. Also, I expect Waymo will be in St Louis at least until their recent $16 billion in new funding about runs out.

tuttle buttle

Reportedly, Waymo telops lied to passengers to get them to stay in their robot while the telops rerouted them to waiting police. AFAIK, this is the only known time Waymo lied to passengers to secure their cooperation, eg not to use user controls to make the robot stop. www.msn.com/en-us/autos/...

Waymo started uncrewed/driverless rides for employee in 4 cities: Tampa, Las Vegas, Denver and San Diego. CPUC suspended consideration of Waymo's request for the required ridehail permit for San Diego until September at the earliest. www.cnbc.com/2026/07/08/w...

Apparently, when a Waymo robot knows it's failed the top lidar displays in back a yellow exclamation mark. They all knew it after the fireworks on Edie Road, Presidio, San Francisco Favors a common cause, eg cell. Edie is the only exit for the lot on the left w ~250 cars. OP: tiktok.trina.aeen

"we're almost at the point where we just need to turn around" Waymo telop perhaps a message for Waymo management OP: tiktok.gina_copetti

Another Waymo robot disobeyed first responders: Barton Springs Rd at Lamar, Austin, TX Waymo has been bragging about their robot's ability to obey first responders' hand signals since at least 2019. Sometimes they do obey, but often do not. No-driver is not the best driver. OP: tiktok.molly0327_

Waymo still hasn't fixed their looping bug: Rooftop parking lot, sw corner, Westfield Culver City, 6000 Sepulveda Boulevard, Culver City, CA There's only one way in and out of there. Wild that Waymo robots can't find the way out they just came in. So many parking lot examples. OP: tiktok.hillyice

Apparently, ~random ppl helped Waymo by pushing a disabled robot out of the way on the 4th of July: Funston by Lincoln, Presidio, San Francisco ~100 ft from where possible robot 0 got stuck in the bike box just across Lincoln. Video shot from the YMCA parking lot. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieal...

Zoox is blaming others for their undrivable robots being unable to drive: “were the result of external third-party interactions with the vehicles and were not caused by Zoox...were isolated situations rather than part of a broader trend.” Marisa Wiggam, Zoox PR "isolated" repeated enough = trend

Waymo is the only company w a permit to operate uncrewed/driverless vehicles on freeways in California. fwiw, an AV Deployment Permit is required for commercial operations (ridehail, delivery, etc) and is most similar to a normal driver's license w some restrictions. www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehic...

5th & 6th gen Waymo robots were in the July 4th car mosh pit of Taylor & Filbert, North Beach, San Francisco 2 blocks from where a Waymo w passenger drove by fireworks. Joe DiMaggio grew up on this block. We, but prob not Joe, were promised jet packs. 6 video sequence by OP: tiktok.j3ss13g

Waymo called the police bc two 15-year-olds passengers were "shooting Orbeez" out the window(s), according to the San Mateo Police Department. It is illegal for Waymo to transport unaccompanied minors in California. CPUC is reviewing a complaint against Waymo for this. archive.ph/edxMq

The fix for Waymo's flooding recall remains under development, evidently: 8th Ave S under I-40, Nashville, Tennessee wait for it OP: reddit.MikeOKurias

Hilariously, @sfgate.com reports a Waymo spokesperson said they were "not informed of any [Presidio] road closures and that this impeded its response to traffic congestion." All they had to do was check the Presidio's website. Rank incompetence or better a fool than presidio.gov/explore/blog...

View from above of the Waymo robot w passenger turning narrowly by exploding fireworks: Lombard & Taylor, San Francisco Waymo was using Lombard here as a robosewer and/or a robostand at Columbus where many pedestrians passed and a light helped robots get past pedestrians. OP: tiktok.maddmack13

Waymo says they've fixed their fwy bug and resumed fwy driving, inc: - re-prioritizing fwy hazards, which may have side effects - avoiding "pre-planned" construction zones - somehow more telops when all else fails Waymo's complete Recall Report (pdf) at link. static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2026...

We may have just seen what happens when Waymo pre-positions robots for rides that never come bc cell service there is overwhelmed. Consider Edie Road in the Presidio on July 4th, before & after the fireworks. Before, these robots are (by plan) waiting/parked/idling not stuck. OP: tiktok.omid.aeen

Either demand is way down or Waymo "defleeted" a fair portion, maybe ~half, of their SF fleet, AFAICT. Video of their main SF idling lot at 5th & Brannan shows an unusually large number of robots and some are off/disengaged, ie lidars not spinning. Also, no 6th gen robots seen on the roads today.

Waymo has certainly benefited the local towing business www.businessinsider.com/waymo-stalle...

I wish I was making this up, but this is Waymo's self-image/PR. If you watch the 21 seconds, it is just one robot picking up one passenger at a curb, nothing at all like the ops scale & mayhem in the real world. Superficial. Never seen a greater distance between message and reality at/from Waymo.

Waymo stopped/paused 6th gen robot service today, per user reports possibly bc one burned after driving over a firework, per Waymo 1000 block of Connecticut St, Potrero Hill, San Francisco a fireworks defect may be more serious than the Presidio traffic mayhem OP: tiktok.mikullica_loves_monster

"Our Waymo just drove into a firework. Are we on fire?" OP: reddit.tefunka Lombard turning onto Taylor, North Beach, San Francisco fwiw, the robot appeared to change course/route from straight to left turn just after the firework went off. Never take a robot to ...

Need a new thread just for the tiktok videos of Waymo's San Francisco July 4th mayhem. Starting w the first 6th gen Waymo robot to burn: 1000 block of Connecticut St, Potrero Hill, San Francisco Current burned robots score: LA 5 SF 2 OP: tiktok.mikullica_loves_monster

Our annual Waymo mayhem & roboclot tour of the 4th of July fireworks in San Francisco begins w at least 6 robots thoroughly blocking a key intersection in the Presidio: Lincoln & Girard "We walked out of it, the traffic was at standstill when we were there" OP: x.iamwo1v Never take a robot to ...

A Waymo robot ticketed while apparently picking up "AH" 4th & Olive, Los Angeles CVC § 22502a, $63 Waymo's gotten alotta tickets for this over the years. Scofflaw as an automated service. OP: tiktok.da.ron_

Waymo reportedly paused bookings in their LA geo tonight. Might be brief as in already over. "Freeway routes...unavailable. Trips may take longer than usual" is rather disingenous as fwy routes have historically been unusual and no one knows when, if, or how they'll resume. OP: x.TimDefuria

Waymo turns local streets into robot sewers, eg: Hayes approaching Gough, Hayes Valley, San Francisco Prob queued for the left onto Gough to cross Market St to their 14th St depot in the Mission. Also happens w Waymo robots on Laguna. IDK why Waymo doesn't prefer the Van Ness to S Van Ness route.

Another Waymo robot was unable to handle elementary traffic controls: Old Saint Mary's Cathedral, Grant Ave, Chinatown, San Francisco Notice it moved ~foot, possibly from a telop nudge or "suggestion." No-driver > telop. OP: x.0x_ZHUANG

A couple users report Waymo shutdown/paused again in Miami, handing Tesla a bit of a robotaxi bro talking point. FWIW, the forecast is ~25% chance of ~0 inches of rain today, though more tomorrow.

Another sign the Waymo planner/router has been having some problems. These routes are in the heart of Waymo's most heavily driven/mapped geo and pass within blocks of one of their depots. FWIW, the Pride event street closures last weekend were around Civic Center and should not have affected them.

Another Waymo robot crashed w another bus: Barlby Road near St Quintin Ave, North Kensington, London "at around 6.30pm on Thursday, July 2" ~30 minutes later, another bus crashed into a home nearby. www.dailymail.com/news/article...

Tesla's "robotaxi" service launched in a tiny ~10 sq mile geo around the Miami airport. x.SawyerMerritt

Yet another (126+) Wrong Way Waymo, off by >lane, w hazards, evaded by better drivers: Olive St at Hill & 23rd, Los Angeles An odd spot to get to or stop and a bad spot to stop oddly. Waymo wanted to make a car w no driver. So they did and this is what it does, again and again. OP: x.1owroller

Situational infra: Opera Plaza, Turk St by Van Ness Ave, San Francisco OP: tiktok.tl2active

Waymo crash: 225 Bush St, San Francisco Looks like the robot had a passenger. Waymo's redacted NHTSA crash report should be publicly avail ~mid-August. OP: tiktok.getthecheckpod

More Waymo robots driving into & around in pavement/construction sites, which are different errors that together are why Waymo had to pull their robots from freeways. This is the first drop off but fourth video of a Waymo robot driving into his fresh pavement by OP: tiktok.ronniemanes4, Arizona

Police were prob talking w Waymo telops as The Waymo Driver can't have a conversation: S 1st St and Woodland, Nashville, TN ~block from Nissan Stadium. Reportedly, this was after the Alan Jackson concert there on Saturday. Never take a robot to .... OP: ig.nataliesouders_

"I drove on the sidewalk to unplug this" OP: insaneclampasta, San Francisco One Waymo robot driving up behind you is all it takes to go from being on the outer edge of a roboclot to being inside the roboclot. He got two. DUAI.

4800 block of Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC DC requires Waymo robots be crewed, though Waymo is lobbying hard to change that.