Waymo Self-Driving Cars Stopped, Blocked Roads During San Francisco Power Outage

The problem has raised questions over the ability of autonomous vehicles to adapt to unpredictable or real-world driving conditions.

A customer exits a Waymo driverless taxi in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2024. Laure Andrillon/Reuters

Waymo autonomous vehicles (AVs) stopped and blocked traffic in San Francisco on Dec. 20 after traffic lights stopped working due to an electrical power outage caused by a substation fire, forcing the company to temporarily suspend services.

The robotaxi company said its vehicles are designed to treat nonfunctioning traffic lights as four-way stops, but that the scale of Saturday’s outage had created unusual conditions. Therefore, the company paused services, resuming on the afternoon of Dec. 21.