Imagine a city plunged into darkness, and self-driving cars become part of the problem. That's precisely what happened in San Francisco when a widespread blackout brought Waymo's robotaxis to a standstill.
On a recent Saturday night, a fire at a Pacific Gas and Electric substation knocked out power for roughly a third of San Francisco's residents. But here's where it gets interesting: the very technology designed to make our lives easier – autonomous vehicles – faced a significant challenge.
During the blackout, many noticed that Waymo vehicles were reportedly blocking intersections and contributing to traffic congestion. The company quickly announced the suspension of its driverless services in the city due to the power outages. San Franciscans shared photos and videos on social media platforms, capturing the scene as it unfolded.
Waymo's vehicles are programmed to treat non-functional traffic signals as four-way stops. But the scale of the blackout led to instances of cars stalling for longer than usual to confirm the state of affected intersections, according to Waymo. The company stated that the majority of active trips were successfully completed before the cars pulled over or returned to depots. However, they didn't share with Mashable what percentage of the self-driving fleet was impacted, or why the driverless vehicles stopped working during the blackout.
Waymo's spokesperson, Suzanne Philion, shared that they temporarily suspended ride-hailing services in the San Francisco Bay Area due to the widespread power outage. They added that their teams were working closely with city officials and hoped to bring services back online soon.
As power was restored around 9:10 p.m. that night, some outages remained early Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon, Waymo announced that they were resuming ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay Area. The spokesperson explained that the power outage caused gridlock across San Francisco, with non-functioning traffic signals and transit disruptions. They emphasized their commitment to adjusting their technology to traffic flow during such events and their focus on integrating the lessons learned from the event.
And this is the part most people miss: This incident is just the latest in a series of recent issues for Waymo. Just this month, there was a viral video of a driverless Waymo seemingly driving straight into traffic, a Los Angeles woman found a stranger in the trunk of her Waymo, and Waymo issued a software recall following reports of the cars illegally passing school buses in Austin. Back in November, Waymo faced criticism in San Francisco after an autonomous car struck a neighborhood cat.
This raises some thought-provoking questions: Does this incident shake your confidence in self-driving technology? Do you think the company responded appropriately? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
