Daijiworld Media Network – San Bruno

San Bruno, Sep 30: California police had a rare encounter last week when they pulled over a driverless Waymo taxi in San Bruno for making an illegal U-turn, authorities said. The autonomous vehicle was stopped at a traffic light on Friday evening, and officers quickly noticed there was no one behind the wheel.

“That’s right… No driver, no hands, no clue,” the San Bruno Police Department wrote on social media, adding that they contacted Waymo to report the glitch. Since the vehicle had no human operator, police could not issue a traditional citation, joking that their ticket books “don’t have a box for ‘robot’.”

Waymo, which operates self-driving taxis in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta, said the Waymo Driver is “designed to respect the rules of the road” and that the company is reviewing the incident to enhance road safety.

The incident underscores regulatory challenges for autonomous vehicles. California passed a law last year allowing officers to issue a “notice of noncompliance” if a driverless car violates traffic rules, effective July 2026. The law also requires companies to maintain a hotline for first responders and mandates vehicles respond within two minutes to clear emergency zones.

San Bruno police emphasized that the legislation will help hold companies accountable for reckless autonomous driving. “Whether it’s drivers, passengers, or even driverless cars, we’ll continue to do our part to keep San Bruno’s streets safe,” the department said.

Waymo has faced prior issues, including a recall of over 1,200 vehicles this year due to software problems causing collisions with stationary objects. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also investigated the company following multiple reports of erratic behaviour.