It was taking the tourist ride...... witnessing an actual crime scene live...... police with guns drawn..... "perp" face down on the asphalt .... only thing missing was a "BOOK'EM DANNO!"
Video shows the Waymo passing a white pickup truck pulled over in Los Angeles by several police cruisers with their lights flashing as the suspected driver lays on the ground.
This trip was Waymo dangerous than it needed to be.
Passengers in a robotaxi operated by Waymo were driven just a few feet away from police stop in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday — a brief brush with danger that was caught on video by incredulous onlookers and which ended with nobody hurt.
The driverless vehicle could be seen in the video making a left turn into a street and passing a white pickup truck pulled over at the corner by several police cruisers with their lights flashing.
The suspected driver of the pickup was lying face down on the street at the time, the video showed.
Immediately, the police officers could be heard yelling at the vehicle to get away.
But instead of splitting, the Waymo appeared to slow down briefly and signal it was turning right.
"Go to your left! Go to your left!" a police officer was heard yelling at the wayward Waymo. "Go through."
Meanwhile, the man on the ground looked up to see what was going on. Police are then seen in the video approaching the man with their weapons drawn.
NBC News has reached out to the LAPD for further details about the standoff.
Waymo said the entire encounter lasted barely 15 seconds.
“Safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets," a Waymo spokesperson said. "When we encounter unusual events like this one, we learn from them as we continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities.”
Waymo is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet. It currently operates in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Phoenix, according to its website.
In July, the company said it had passed more than 100 million miles without a human behind the wheel and not one fatality.
But there have been several snafus since the since the service opened to the public in November 2024. And the company has gotten some unwanted attention.
Five Waymo vehicles were torched in June by anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles.
In July, a cyber-prankster reportedly sent 50 driverless Waymo vehicles down a dead-end street in San Francisco, another incident that went viral.
Then in September, police in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno were conducting a DUI operation when a self-driving Waymo made an illegal turn in front of them.
The police were unable to give anybody a ticket because, well, there was nobody to ticket. But they contacted the company which promised to fix the “glitch.”
In November, Waymo announced it would begin offering rides on freeways after previously limiting its robotaxis to city streets.
www.nbcnews.com
Video shows the Waymo passing a white pickup truck pulled over in Los Angeles by several police cruisers with their lights flashing as the suspected driver lays on the ground.
This trip was Waymo dangerous than it needed to be.
Passengers in a robotaxi operated by Waymo were driven just a few feet away from police stop in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday — a brief brush with danger that was caught on video by incredulous onlookers and which ended with nobody hurt.
The driverless vehicle could be seen in the video making a left turn into a street and passing a white pickup truck pulled over at the corner by several police cruisers with their lights flashing.
The suspected driver of the pickup was lying face down on the street at the time, the video showed.
Immediately, the police officers could be heard yelling at the vehicle to get away.
But instead of splitting, the Waymo appeared to slow down briefly and signal it was turning right.
"Go to your left! Go to your left!" a police officer was heard yelling at the wayward Waymo. "Go through."
Meanwhile, the man on the ground looked up to see what was going on. Police are then seen in the video approaching the man with their weapons drawn.
NBC News has reached out to the LAPD for further details about the standoff.
Waymo said the entire encounter lasted barely 15 seconds.
“Safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets," a Waymo spokesperson said. "When we encounter unusual events like this one, we learn from them as we continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities.”
Waymo is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet. It currently operates in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Phoenix, according to its website.
In July, the company said it had passed more than 100 million miles without a human behind the wheel and not one fatality.
But there have been several snafus since the since the service opened to the public in November 2024. And the company has gotten some unwanted attention.
Five Waymo vehicles were torched in June by anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles.
In July, a cyber-prankster reportedly sent 50 driverless Waymo vehicles down a dead-end street in San Francisco, another incident that went viral.
Then in September, police in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno were conducting a DUI operation when a self-driving Waymo made an illegal turn in front of them.
The police were unable to give anybody a ticket because, well, there was nobody to ticket. But they contacted the company which promised to fix the “glitch.”
In November, Waymo announced it would begin offering rides on freeways after previously limiting its robotaxis to city streets.
Driverless Waymo vehicle inadvertently takes riders through tense police stop in L.A.
Video shows the Waymo passing a white pickup truck pulled over in Los Angeles by several police cruisers with their lights flashing as the suspected driver lays on the ground.
www.nbcnews.com
