Waymo's driverless cars added to the misery of San Francisco's massive power outage over the weekend by coming to a halt at downed traffic intersections. And some are questioning the autonomous vehicle company's preparedness for emergencies.
Mahmood said the Waymo malfunctions during last weekend’s power outage created “massive traffic disruptions for residents, and severely impacting the Fire Department's ability to respond to the fires as quickly as possible." He said San Francisco residents deserved answers.
There were reports and posts on social media throughout the weekend of driverless cars stuck at intersections, their lights blinking, seemingly confused by downed traffic signals.
Yesterday, the company acknowledged the service disruption. A Waymo spokesperson said the magnitude of the power outage, which affected a third of the city, was a factor.
