“What is this car doing?” an eyewitness asked after a driverless Waymo vehicle turned into oncoming traffic in Houston and blocked lanes of a busy intersection.
WASHINGTON — A driverless Waymo vehicle was caught traveling the wrong way in busy downtown Houston traffic, creating a dangerous situation for drivers, according to video footage and eyewitness reports.
Craig Funni told KHOU he was trying to enter a high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, lane shortly before rush hour Tuesday 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 vehicle 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 vehicles have been operating for about a year. The study found Waymo vehicles had 84% fewer crashes involving airbag deployment compared with human drivers and reported no crashes resulting in serious injuries.
Some drivers say the incidents raise safety concerns. Funni suggested the company put a human behind the wheel.
“Put a person in the car,” he said. “We have enough people in Houston—we can find someone else to drive.”
A spokesperson for Waymo said the company is looking into Friday’s incident and released a 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 back up and clear the intersection. We are looking into this event further and will make operational changes to help prevent this moving forward.”
A similar case of a wayward Waymo went viral earlier this month, after first-time passengers in Arizona encountered a scary incident while traveling in a driverless vehicle.
The video, which has racked up millions of views on TikTok, showed the vehicle stopping in the middle of a busy Chandler intersection after the passengers inside posted the frightening moment online.