Waymo says its cars are 84% safer than human drivers. But some Houston drivers who’ve seen these vehicles stalled in traffic aren’t convinced.
HOUSTON — A driverless Waymo vehicle was caught heading the wrong way near downtown Houston, creating a potentially dangerous situation for drivers, according to video and eyewitness reports.
Craig Funni said he was trying to enter an HOV lane off Saint Joseph Parkway Tuesday afternoon just before rush hour when the Waymo car blocked multiple lanes.
“It was kind of scary… just concerning, because what is this car doing?” Funni said. “It was sitting there blocking two lanes of traffic… now it’s blocking three lanes.”
Waymo confirmed the incident, saying a remote assistance team helped guide the vehicle safely out of the intersection.
Funni said his daughter encountered another Waymo car stalled in the same area Friday morning.
“It was sitting in a lane of traffic next to orange barrels, with its flashers on, not moving because it didn’t know where to go,” he said.
Waymo pointed to a recent study based on data from Austin, where its self-driving cars have been operating for about a year. The study found Waymo vehicles had 84% fewer crashes that deploy airbags compared with human drivers and reported no crashes resulting in serious injuries.
But local drivers say the incidents raise safety concerns. Funni suggested the company put a human behind the wheel.
“Put a person in the car. We have enough people in Houston—we can find someone else to drive,” he said.
A spokesperson with Waymo said they are looking into Friday’s incident. The company released this full statement regarding Tuesday’s event:
One of our vehicles attempted to turn west onto the reversible HOV lane of St. Joseph Parkway while the reversible lane was running eastbound. After the vehicle came to a stop, our Remote Assistance team helped the vehicle to back up and clear the intersection. We are looking into this event further and will make operational changes to help prevent this moving forward.