<\/p>\n
When an autonomous vehicle company like Waymo announces it is expanding to a new city, locals are definitely excited about the future of transportation in that city. <\/p>\n
Waymo officially launched in Atlanta in June 2025, but less than a year later, residents of at least one suburban Atlanta neighborhood are getting a frightening view of the future. <\/p>\n
Residents of Atlanta’s exclusive Buckhead neighborhood have filmed dozens of empty Waymo driverless taxis circling their neighborhood in recent weeks. The video shows the vehicles blocking traffic as they struggle to navigate the narrow residential streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re families. We have small animals and pets, got kids getting on the bus in the morning, and it just doesn\u2019t feel safe to have that traffic,\u201d a resident told the local news, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. <\/p>\n
Residents said that they reached out to Waymo and did not receive a response, so they contacted their City Council member and representatives from the Georgia Department of Transportation. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to just see them stay on main traffic roads,\u201d a resident told Atlanta’s Channel 2. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any reason for them to be on small, residential cul-de-sacs if they\u2019re not picking up somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waymo partners with Uber in cities like Atlanta. <\/p>\n
Smith Collection/Gado on Getty Images<\/p>\n
Waymo responds to viral video of cars invading quiet Atlanta neighborhood<\/p>\n
Residents of the Atlanta neighborhood have been baffled by the sudden appearance of multiple Waymos circling their homes, with one saying they had seen 50 cars one morning.<\/p>\n
One resident placed a children at play sign in the road, which caused even more confusion, causing about eight of the robotaxis to get stuck on the street as they tried to turn around. After residents complained that they could not get a response from Waymo, the company has released a statement about what is going on. <\/p>\n
“At Waymo, we are committed to being good neighbors. We take community feedback seriously and have already worked with our fleet partner to address this routing behavior,” a company spokesperson told TheStreet. <\/p>\n
Uber, Waymo’s rideshare partner, handles fleet positioning and ensuring there are enough vehicles to service Waymo’s coverage area in Atlanta. The company says it is working with Uber to make sure this issue doesn’t occur again.<\/p>\n
“We value our relationship with Atlanta residents and remain focused on providing a seamless, respectful, and safe experience for riders and residents alike,” Waymo said. <\/p>\n
Inoperable Waymos cause a scene, traffic jam in Atlanta<\/p>\n
Last month, \u00a0another video from Atlanta went viral, showing a group of three Waymos completely blocking traffic in one direction of a street, each stopped at the white line with a broken traffic light flashing red.<\/p>\n
The video shows drivers stuck behind cars as people exit their vehicles and walk around the intersection, filming the chaos.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time something like this has happened.<\/p>\n
Related: Waymo recalls thousands of robotaxis for surprising reason<\/p>\n
Waymo was forced to suspend service in San Francisco because its vehicles apparently did not know the \u201cfour-way-stop\u201d rule that applies to intersections with inoperable traffic lights.<\/p>\n
The vehicles\u00a0were filmed\u00a0stuck at numerous intersections, unsure how to\u00a0navigate the situation, causing even more turmoil on the roads as drivers slowly inch past electricity-less city blocks.<\/p>\n
The jury is still out on whether AVs are safer than human drivers<\/p>\n
Waymo, the most active of the U.S. robotaxi options, says that, compared to those with human drivers, its autonomous vehicles have been involved in\u00a090% fewer crashes\u00a0resulting in\u00a0serious injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Auto insurance companies have a lot at stake with this new technology. Autonomous vehicles could change insurance pricing at the most minute level. The question is: will it raise rates or lower them?<\/p>\n
Right now, the industry is in a wait-and-see period.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think they have the data yet to make that kind of assessment,\u201d David Kidd, vice president for vehicle research at the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, told\u00a0Bloomberg\u00a0when asked which drivers are more likely to crash: autonomous or human.\u00a0\u201cMost insurers are extremely conservative, and they rely on historical data to assess risk accurately. There just isn\u2019t enough information available yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trent Victor, Waymo\u2019s director of safety research and best practices, recently gave an interview saying much of the same, acknowledging that, \u201cthere is not yet sufficient mileage to make statistical conclusions about fatal crashes alone,\u201d adding that \u201cas we\u00a0accumulate more mileage, it will become possible to make statistically significant conclusions on other subsets of data, including fatal crashes as its own category.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waymo vehicles have\u00a0driven well over 130 million miles across the fleet and have been\u00a0involved\u00a0in at least\u00a0two fatal crashes,\u00a0MSN reported. However, the autonomous vehicle was not directly found\u00a0responsible for either of them. Human drivers average about 123 million car miles traveled for every fatality, according to the\u00a0IIHS.<\/p>\n
Related: Autonomous vehicles run into trouble in world’s largest AV market<\/p>\n
#Waymo #responds #viral #video #showing #weird #vehicle #behavior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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