SAN ANTONIO – Videos circulating online showing Waymo cars going off course seem to have some San Antonians skeptical about riding in the driverless cars.
KSAT 12 News first reported on one incident last week caught on camera by a viewer in Alamo Heights.
The video shows a Waymo vehicle heading the wrong way down a one-way street in a school zone near Cambridge Elementary School.
Another video posted by TikTok user Alyson Aranda shows a car seemingly frozen in place in the drive-thru of a Whataburger restaurant just north of downtown.
Aranda told KSAT 12 News she shot the video around 2 a.m. Saturday after the car went the wrong way in the drive-thru near Cypress Street and San Pedro Avenue.
In a third recent incident, Olmos Park police said a Waymo car stopped just short of entering a high-water area under a bridge near Contour Drive and McCullough Avenue.
An officer told KSAT 12 News off camera that first responders were able to follow a certain procedure to get the car moved.
San Antonio police said they also intervened in the Whataburger incident by following a procedure which resulted in getting the car manually moved.
In a statement, a Waymo spokesperson described the procedure, which it has made available to first responders here and across the country. It said officers have been trained to either scan a QR code or call a number where they can communicate with the company’s Emergency Response Team.
With some potential passengers, though, the incidents have been a bit more unsettling.
Robert McLaughlin said he has a lot of questions that need to be answered before he rides in a Waymo car.
“How do you actually confirm and know that it’s doing what it’s supposed to, and how do you control it if it doesn’t?” he asked.
April Williams said her concerns also prevent her from getting into the passenger seat of one of them.
“I’ve heard a couple of stories,” Williams said. “It kind of catches me off guard, like, when I actually see the car and I’m like, oh my gosh, you know, nobody’s driving.”
A Waymo spokesman also said in the statement that incidents involving the company’s autonomous cars, which log more than four million miles each week nationwide, are rare.
The statement said when the incidents do occur, the company’s entire fleet learns from the events.
“We are committed to continuous improvement and take several steps to ensure our technology operates appropriately on public roads,” the Waymo statement said.
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