{"id":387318,"date":"2026-07-05T22:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T22:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/387318\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T22:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T22:21:13","slug":"waymo-drives-through-exploding-fireworks-in-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/387318\/","title":{"rendered":"Waymo drives through exploding fireworks in San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Fourth of July robotaxi ride in San Francisco turned terrifying after a Waymo vehicle<\/a> appeared to drive directly through an exploding firework while its passengers watched in horror.<\/p>\n

As a person standing on a sidewalk appears to ignite a firework in the middle of an intersection, a passenger inside the self-driving car films through the window.<\/p>\n

The firework begins detonating just as the Waymo continues moving forward instead of stopping. \u201cOh no, no, no,\u201d one passenger can be heard saying as the autonomous vehicle enters the blast.<\/p>\n

A Waymo appeared to drive directly through an exploding firework in San Francisco on Saturday<\/p>\n

Passengers watched on in horror after the robotaxi hit the firework.<\/p>\n

Colorful smoke is visible coming from what appears to be beneath the robotaxi, prompting another passenger to ask, \u201cAre we on fire, dude?\u201d<\/p>\n

The passengers were not injured.<\/p>\n

The fireworks scare unfolded during a night of severe congestion across Northern San Francisco, where unusually heavy traffic created widespread problems for Waymo\u2019s fully electric fleet.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur priority is keeping San Francisco moving safely, especially during major city celebrations. On July 4th, extreme traffic congestion in Northern San Francisco disrupted normal operations for several Waymo vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn coordination with local authorities and emergency services, our roadside assistance team worked quickly to clear our vehicles from the area.<\/p>\n

Nobody was hurt in the incident.<\/p>\n

The company currently leads the autonomous ride-hailing market with 577 registered driverless vehicles and roughly 500,000 paid rides each week across 10 cities Shutterstock \/ NorthSky Films<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team is always evaluating ways to strengthen Waymo\u2019s resilience in major traffic disruptions,\u201d a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement to KRON4.<\/a><\/p>\n

Waymo is owned by Alphabet Inc., Google\u2019s parent company<\/a>. The autonomous driving program began in 2009 as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, internally known as Project Chauffeur, before becoming a standalone Alphabet subsidiary in December 2016.<\/p>\n

The company currently leads the autonomous ride-hailing market with 577 registered driverless vehicles and roughly 500,000 paid rides each week across 10 cities. Its system relies on an advanced LiDAR sensor suite.<\/p>\n

Tesla, by comparison, is expanding localized public trials in Texas with 42 registered driverless vehicles using a camera-only vision system while developing its purpose-built Cybercab.<\/p>\n

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