Waymo's robotaxis are statistically safer than human drivers in preventing serious injury crashes, yet a CNN investigation found hundreds of incidents where the vehicles made dangerous maneuvers, ran red lights, and obstructed emergency responders. The paradox reveals a fundamental challenge facing the autonomous vehicle industry: eliminating human error doesn't eliminate risk; it simply transforms it into new, unexpected problems that cities and regulators are struggling to address.

What Safety Problems Are Waymo Robotaxis Actually Creating?

A CNN analysis of local and federal government records identified hundreds of incidents in which Waymo robotaxis made dangerous maneuvers and struggled with obstacles that human drivers handle instinctively. These weren't isolated glitches. The vehicles ran red lights, drove into oncoming traffic, entered active crime scenes, failed to obey emergency road closures, and came within inches of pedestrians lawfully crossing streets. In just the past two months, Waymo recalled thousands of vehicles and paused operations in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded streets, including one unoccupied vehicle in San Antonio that was swept away in rushing floodwaters.

The company also suspended all freeway operations in Los Angeles and Miami after a San Francisco rider reported on social media that his robotaxi led police on a high-speed pursuit through an active highway construction zone. These incidents paint a picture of vehicles that excel at avoiding collisions with other cars but struggle with the unpredictable, real-world chaos that human drivers navigate every day.

How Are City Officials Responding to These Safety Concerns?

City leaders are increasingly frustrated with what they see as a mismatch between Waymo's expansion and the actual problems the vehicles create on their streets. Austin City Council member Paige Ellis expressed the growing concern bluntly, stating that the question is not if this will turn into a deadly situation, but when. Officials in Austin and other cities say Waymos are draining city resources and obstructing emergency response efforts, including during critical situations like the city's response to a deadly mass shooting outside a bar in March.

Police reports detail additional headaches for law enforcement. Waymo riders have misused the vehicles as getaway cars for crimes, done drugs in the backseat, and passed out drunk inside, requiring emergency assistance. These aren't failures of the autonomous driving technology itself; they're consequences of deploying thousands of driverless vehicles without a human operator present to intervene in unexpected situations.

• Red Light Violations: Waymo robotaxis have run red lights despite being programmed to obey traffic signals, suggesting gaps in how the vehicles interpret complex traffic situations.
• Emergency Response Obstruction: The vehicles have blocked emergency responders and failed to recognize active crime scenes or emergency road closures, creating delays in critical situations.
• Pedestrian Near-Misses: Multiple reports describe close calls where pedestrians had to run or jump out of the way to avoid being struck by robotaxis that did not slow down.
• Flood Response Failures: Waymo vehicles drove into flooded streets and active construction zones, with one vehicle swept away in floodwaters in San Antonio.

What Do the Safety Statistics Actually Show?

Waymo's own data presents a compelling safety case. The company reports that its robotaxis are 13 times less likely to be involved in serious injury crashes compared to human drivers. Peer-reviewed research from Waymo concluded that typical human drivers would have gotten in more than 500 additional injury-causing crashes over the more than 170 million miles driven by Waymo vehicles. A CNN review of roughly 1,200 collisions that Waymo self-reported to the federal government from January last year through mid-April showed that the company's vehicles were likely not at fault in the vast majority of incidents.

However, this data doesn't capture the close calls and potentially dangerous situations that CNN uncovered. Even Waymo's own safety data includes examples where the self-driving technology has stumbled, such as incidents where its cars were rear-ended after unexpectedly braking for low-flying birds and mistaking business signage for a stop sign. In one collision categorized as resulting in moderate injuries, a San Francisco cyclist alleged she suffered brain and spinal cord injuries after hitting the door of a Waymo parked in a no-stopping zone next to a bike lane.

"These are the early warning indicators that all is not well. That's how companies need to treat them. That's how regulators should treat them. This is the story of progress; we replace one set of problems with a new set of problems," said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina professor who advises governments on autonomous vehicles.

Bryant Walker Smith, Professor, University of South Carolina

How Is Waymo Addressing These Issues?

Waymo has deployed 70 remote assistance agents on call at any point in time for its fleet of nearly 4,000 vehicles, with half of those operators based in the Philippines. These operators can provide real-time advice to the vehicles, though they do not take over driving, and Waymo has not disclosed how often they need to intervene. A Congressional investigation from Senator Ed Markey uncovered that a substantial share of Waymo's overseas operators do not hold US driver's licenses, raising additional safety concerns about who is monitoring the vehicles.

The company told CNN that it takes public feedback seriously and is actively working on improvements for some of the issues raised by the investigation, though it characterized these as largely isolated incidents. Waymo emphasized that the overwhelming majority of rides are smooth and uneventful, and that complaints made to government agencies are unverified, while social media videos often don't show a complete picture. The company also highlighted support from advocacy groups representing cyclists and the blind, as well as public health experts who have urged even quicker deployment of the vehicles to help prevent more motorist injuries and deaths.

The tension between Waymo's impressive safety statistics and the real-world problems cities are experiencing reflects a deeper challenge in autonomous vehicle deployment. The technology may be safer in preventing traditional car crashes, but it creates new categories of risk that regulators and city officials are only beginning to understand. As Waymo and competitors like Amazon's Zoox and Tesla continue to expand their robotaxi operations, the question facing policymakers is whether current oversight frameworks are adequate to manage these emerging safety challenges.