Bay Area police officers pull over Waymo robotaxi during DUI operation

By Tim Fang

A police department in the Bay Area said over the weekend that they dealt with an unusual circumstance, pulling over a driverless vehicle for a moving violation.

The San Bruno Police Department said they were conducting a grant-funded DUI enforcement operation when officers spotted a Waymo robotaxi making an illegal U-turn in front of them at a light. Officers pulled over the vehicle, which had no human driver behind the wheel.

“That’s right… no driver, no hands, no clue,” the department posted on social media on Saturday.

Police said since there was no human driver, a ticket could not be issued, saying their citation books “don’t have a box for ‘robot’.” Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, was contacted by officers.

In a statement to CBS News Bay Area on Sunday, a Waymo spokesperson said the autonomous driving system “is designed to respect the rules of the road.”

“We are looking into this situation and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience,” the company added.

Police said there is legislation in the works that will allow officers to issue notices to driverless car companies.

San Bruno is among several communities along the Peninsula where Waymo operates. The self-driving robotaxis are also in operation in San Francisco and in parts of Silicon Valley.

Waymo plans to launch service to both San Francisco International Airport and San Jose Mineta International Airport in the coming months.