Waymo Malfunctions
Who is to blame when driverless cars cause problems?
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5/28/20263 min read
Written By Symphony
Symphony is a writer who covers systems and communities.
SymphonyLedger.com
There have been several reports of driverless cars running red lights, holding up traffic, unable to read road signs, gathering in groups and circling in colder sacs, and driving through floods with inside. And this is all being done by Waymo, the autonomous driving company.
The Google based project began in 2009 and served the first fully autonomous ride in 2015. These milestones have led the company to provide twenty million plus rides and counting, with an alleged ninety-three percent satisfaction rate from riders. The driverless cars are available 24/7, day or night in the cities of Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta.
Their website proudly states that driverless cars are “safer than human-driven vehicles.”. They go on to say that “with 92% fewer bodily injury claims and 88% fewer property damage claims over 25 million miles, Swiss Re (one of the world’s leading reinsurers) concluded that Waymo is significantly safer than human-driven vehicles.”
These statements posted on their website are problematic.
To declare no driver is safer than a driver is reckless. And although technology is extremely advanced in 2026, these claims stem from greed. The greed of not paying individuals fair wages and not wanting families to be self sustainable.
When did companies become so bold to insist that humans are not needed?
This is laughable to believe that artificial intelligence has dominion over humans.
Waymo states, “Our mission is to be the world’s most trusted driver. Every year, 1.4M lives are lost to traffic crashes around the world. The status quo is not acceptable. Waymo is committed to holding safety to a higher standard. Because when we do, we make space for people to get around in a whole new way. On this path, we aim to offer freedom of movement for all, create a sustainable, efficient transportation ecosystem, and make the planet better than we found it.”
Many reports just out of Atlanta go on to say that the Waymo cars are not able to read some road signs and signals. There is a video circulating of three cars holding up traffic because the Waymo’s misread flashing red lights as a solid red light. This caused traffic to be held up making many people have to get out of their vehicles and see what was going on. They began recording once they realized that the three cars at the front of the line were all driverless. And there was no way for the vehicles behind the three Waymo’s to go around because of a raised medium, causing them to be blocked in. Not only is this unsafe, but ridiculous.
Another incident took place in a Georgia neighborhood who experienced multiple Waymo driverless cars gathering in flocks in their coldersac. The traffic from the driverless cars had gotten so bad that a neighbor placed a plastic child like cone in the entrance of the coldersac to stop the vehicles from entering. It worked - but it only jammed up the street further because the Waymos did not know how to leave without going around the coldersac.
The whole scene frustrated the neighbors and righteously so.
Another incident took place on May 21, 2026 in Atlanta, due to massive rain and floods. In the midst of terrible weather, some Waymo’s got stuck in the flood. Causing for passengers to leave the vehicle and be stranded. Granted, multiple vehicles experienced being stuck. But the difference is, humans were able to detect a problem and stop before going further into the water. The Waymo kept going.
But yet, their site states that they are safer than human driven vehicles.
Some critics are concerned that there is no one held liable when Waymo’s driverless cars disregard traffic lights, block traffic, enter flood zones, and cause accidents.
Humans receive tickets, make court appearances, and lose driving privileges from the Department of Transportation, what are the driverless cars repercussions?