A Waymo robotaxi passenger’s trip to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport hit a snag when the autonomous vehicle, operated by Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG, became stuck circling a parking lot roundabout for several minutes, highlighting ongoing challenges in self-driving technology deployment.
What Happened: The incident, documented by passenger Mike Johns on TikTok and reported by ABC15, resulted in a five-minute delay and a refunded trip.
This event comes as Waymo reports significant growth, providing over 150,000 weekly paid trips across its network – a tripling of service since June. The company recently announced expansion plans to Tokyo in early 2025 and Miami in 2026, while maintaining Phoenix as its largest operating area at 315 square miles.
The incident follows Waymo’s recent safety report with Swiss Re, showing an 88% reduction in property damage claims and a 92% reduction in bodily injury claims compared to human drivers over 25.3 million miles. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 31 reports of crashes and alleged traffic violations involving Waymo vehicles.
Why It Matters: The timing is particularly noteworthy as competitor General Motors Co. GM recently shuttered its Cruise autonomous unit following a serious accident in October 2023. GM has shifted focus to combining its autonomous and assisted driving development for personal vehicles rather than robotaxis.
Despite the roundabout incident, Waymo CEO Sundar Pichai remains confident in the technology’s progress, recently identifying Tesla Inc. TSLA as their main competitor in the autonomous driving space.
“Obviously Tesla is a leader in the space. It looks to me like Tesla and Waymo are the top two,” Pichai said at The New York Times DealBook summit.
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Photo courtesy: Waymo
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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