What do traffic cops do if they spot a car making an illegal move? Well, they pull it over and ticket the driver, of course. But of what if no one is behind the wheel?
Cops in California recently saw a vehicle make an illegal U-turn at a traffic light. But when they stopped the car, they noticed it was empty. Investigating further, they soon realized that they were dealing with a self-driving car operated by Waymo.
The bizarre incident was shared on social media by the San Bruno Police Department, which described it as “a first for both officers.”
With no one behind the wheel, the officers had no driver to question, and no one to hand a ticket.
The officers decided to get in touch with Waymo and explain what had happened.
“Hopefully the reprogramming will keep it from making any more illegal moves,” the police department said.
In a statement to the LA Times, Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina said that its autonomous cars, which operate as robotaxis on public roads in several cities including San Francisco, are “designed to respect the rules of the road,” adding that California regulators are always monitoring their performance.
According to the Associated Press, the department’s Facebook post about the incident has received hundreds of comments, with some annoyed at the police’s failure to ticket the company. San Bruno police’s Sgt. Scott Smithmatungol said that while parking tickets can be left with a vehicle, in the case of a moving vehicle a ticket can only be issued to a human driver or operator.
In a classic case of regulators playing catchup with new and fast-developing technology, a new state law will come into effect in 2026 that lets police report violations to the Department of Motor Vehicles should they involve moving autonomous vehicles.
This isn’t the first time that the police have been confused by an empty self-driving car. In 2022, a couple of cops pulled over an autonomous car operated by Cruise for not having its front lights on while driving at night. A video showed the cops pondering what to do after realizing that no one was driving it.
