"Can't Issue a Ticket"... Police Chasing Wrong-Way Driver Left Frustrated by 'Muin Taxi'

"Could Not Impose Fines on Computers"

In the United States, a video showing Google's autonomous self-driving taxi 'Waymo' driving in the wrong direction and getting caught by the police has gone viral.

According to foreign media such as the New York Post and The Verge on the 10th (local time), the police discovered a Waymo vehicle driving in the wrong direction, ignoring traffic signals, on a road in Phoenix, southwestern Arizona, on the 19th of last month. The police chased the vehicle and made it stop.

Afterwards, when a police officer approached the driver's seat, the window automatically rolled down. There was no one inside, and when the officer greeted with "Hello," a call was connected to a company representative.

No driver in the driver's seat of the 'Waymo' vehicle. [Image provided by Phoenix Police Department]

The officer said, "The vehicle was driving in the opposite lane," to which the representative replied, "I will check immediately." The officer added, "The vehicle entered the opposite lane while passing through a construction zone. It was a dangerous situation." It is known that the representative later arrived at the scene in person to resolve the issue.

Waymo stated that the vehicle entered the opposite lane after encountering "inconsistent construction signs." They also said the vehicle drove in the wrong direction on the road for about 30 seconds before the police stopped it. Fortunately, there were no passengers on board, and no other vehicles were nearby, so the incident did not lead to an accident. The police stated, "Since we cannot issue a fine to a computer, the incident ended without further action."

Phoenix is one of the few cities in the United States that allows autonomous vehicles to operate. However, as various accidents continue to occur, concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles are growing.

A burning Waymo vehicle. [Image source=X (X·Twitter)]

Meanwhile, autonomous driving refers to the function of driving itself without driver intervention by combining artificial intelligence (AI) and sensor technology. While it has the advantage of reducing driver fatigue, it also involves safety issues, leading to ongoing debates.

In San Francisco, California, which was the first in the world to allow 24-hour autonomous taxis, fatal accidents have been occurring continuously. In October last year, a woman was seriously injured after being trapped under a robotaxi (autonomous taxi) in downtown San Francisco. When the fire department arrived at the scene, the woman was stuck under the robotaxi, and the firefighters used rescue equipment to lift the vehicle and pull her out.

Additionally, in February, a crowd in San Francisco set fire to a Waymo vehicle. Foreign media analyzed that this incident was due to growing public resentment following a series of fatal accidents involving autonomous taxis.