The driverless car was driving eastbound in a westbound lane.
In a statement, per AZCentral, Waymo blamed the incident on "inconsistent construction signage" during the drive. The company argued that the vehicle had done what it was programmed to do after that by pulling into the next available parking lot and stopping for police.
According to the outlet, the incident took place shortly after 11am on June 19. After approaching an intersection, the vehicle ran a red light and drove into oncoming traffic and “FREAKED OUT,” per the police records. Waymo said that it was then "blocked from navigating back into the correct lane" for around 30 seconds, at which point the officer turned on his lights and pulled up behind it
"There's no driver," the officer said into his radio as he walked up to the parked vehicle, which automatically lowered the windows after it got pulled over. The robot vehicle connected the officer with customer service over an intercom.
"So, your car here drove into oncoming lanes of traffic," he told the Waymo customer service representative, who replied, "Okay, I will go ahead and take a look at that right now." The officer went on to explain what had happened and asked the man to "review the video” after the vehicle drove into the opposing traffic lanes after there was some construction in the area. Police wrote that they were "UNABLE TO ISSUE CITATION TO [A] COMPUTER" after the incident occured.
Earlier in February, The Post Millennial's Editor-in-Chief Libby Emmons took a ride in a Waymo in San Francisco, saying that "dystopia is real," and added that the vehicle is "disconcerting," as no driver is behind the wheel as it moves.
The incident is emblematic of some worries people, such as Emmons, have had about self-driving cars. Despite the alarming incident, Waymo has insisted that the car is safer than human drivers in San Francisco and Phoenix where the cars are available.
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