Well, it certainly wasn’t drinking and driving.
Police in Arizona got quite a surprise recently when they pulled over a white Jaguar SUV for a string of suspected reckless behavior near a construction site — only to discover that the vehicle was a Waymo driverless taxi, and no one was inside.
Newly released body camera footage from the Phoenix Police Department shows officers pursuing a vehicle near Seventh Avenue and Osborn Road on June 19 after the vehicle allegedly “panicked” and ran a red light before veering into oncoming traffic. According to dispatch records obtained by AZ Central..
He could be heard sounding confused as the officer approached the driver’s side of the car. Designed to be pulled It detects emergency lights and sirens and can tell when a stopped vehicle is driverless.
Cars owned by Waymo, run by Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc, have driver’s side windows that can be rolled down.
The vehicle’s audio system then connects the officer to a company representative, who notifies them of the problem.
“And then your vehicle went into oncoming traffic,” the officer reports to the company.
The rep replies, “Okay, I’ll check it right away.”
The officer added: “Yeah, there’s a bit of construction going on and there was a car going the wrong way. It was a really bad situation.”
At one point, another officer is seen stopping by to ask what’s going on and is also seen visibly surprised to find the car empty inside.
He, too, gasped in shock as he saw the driverless car swerve into oncoming traffic.
Waymo support staff eventually arrived and assisted the first responding officers.
Phoenix authorities later humorously stated that the incident was closed without further action because dispatch records showed the officer “was unable to issue a ticket in the computer.”
Waymo said in a statement that the vehicle “encountered inconsistent construction signs” while traveling and moved into oncoming traffic.
The company said the car was then “blocked” from returning to its correct lane for around 30 seconds before an officer pulled it over.
Phoenix is one of the few cities in the US that allows self-driving cars on its roads, and Waymo has been approved to operate in Arizona’s capital by 2024.
