Emergency First Responders Say Waymos Are Getting Worse

7 hours ago

Emergency first-responder leaders express frustration with autonomous vehicles (like Waymo) freezing or getting stuck, delaying emergency responses and creating safety risks.
Officials from San Francisco and Austin report worsening performance, including more traffic violations, vehicles blocking fire stations, and failure to recognize hand signals from officers.
Waymo is expanding rapidly, offering driverless rides in multiple cities and aiming for further growth, but these complaints and political opposition threaten to slow its rollout.
First responders highlight issues with Waymo's remote support teams, citing delays in communication and the need for better interaction methods (e.g., exterior microphones).
New regulations in California, effective July, will require autonomous vehicle companies to respond to first-responder calls within 30 seconds and allow emergency officials to clear vehicles from emergency areas.
Incidents include Waymo vehicles blocking ambulances during shootings, stranding during power outages, and passing school buses illegally, prompting complaints from schools and city agencies.
Waymo states it values partnerships with first responders, has conducted extensive training, and is making improvements based on feedback, but declined to attend some city meetings.
Despite frustrations, first responders emphasize a desire to collaborate with autonomous vehicle companies for safer integration of the technology.

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