A recent Independence Day ride in San Francisco turned unsettling when a Waymo robotaxi drove into a display of fireworks. Passengers inside the self-driving vehicle recorded the moment a person on the sidewalk set off fireworks right in the middle of the intersection.
As the car approached and didn’t seem to stop, one passenger could be heard exclaiming, “Oh, no, no,” just before the fireworks went off. Multicolored smoke even billowed from the apparent underside of the vehicle, prompting another passenger to ask, “Is it on fire?” Fortunately, all passengers were unharmed.
This incident occurred amidst significant traffic congestion in northern San Francisco, which caused various disruptions for the Waymo fleet. In a statement, Waymo acknowledged the heavy traffic impacting their services, particularly during a city celebration like the Fourth of July.
Waymo emphasized that their priority remains the safety of passengers and the general public. They coordinated with local authorities to ensure the vehicle was removed promptly from the problematic area.
A Waymo spokesperson mentioned that the team continuously seeks ways to enhance the resilience of their self-driving services during large-scale traffic disruptions. Waymo, launched in 2009 initially as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, now boasts an extensive fleet of 577 self-driving cars and provides approximately 500,000 rides per week across ten cities. Its system is built around advanced LiDAR technology.
In contrast, Tesla is expanding its public trials in Texas with a fleet of 42 unmanned vehicles that rely solely on camera-based systems while also developing a new CyberCab.
