Waymo cars stopped, blocking traffic, during San Francisco power outage

"An hourslong power outage in San Francisco over the weekend that caused tens of thousands of households to lose electricity also knocked out Waymo service, with the ubiquitous self-driving cars coming to a halt at darkened traffic signals, blocking traffic and angering drivers of regular vehicles that became stuck as a result. The ride-hailing service remained offline for part of Sunday, and tow truck operators said they had been towing Waymos for hours overnight."

"The company temporarily suspended its ride-hailing service in the Bay Area, a Waymo spokesperson said in an email. It resumed Sunday afternoon. A representative from the San Francisco mayor's office and the Waymo spokesperson said the decision to suspend services occurred after the mayor's team contacted the company about the significant gridlock its cars were contributing to. Nearly 19,000 electricity customers in San Francisco remained without power on Sunday afternoon, according to the site PowerOutage.com."

An hourslong San Francisco power outage left tens of thousands without electricity and caused Waymo’s self-driving cars to stop at darkened traffic signals, blocking intersections and trapping other drivers. The ride-hailing service was temporarily suspended and resumed Sunday afternoon after the mayor’s office contacted Waymo about the gridlock. Tow truck operators towed Waymos overnight, and social media showed vehicles with hazard lights at blocked intersections. Nearly 19,000 customers remained without power Sunday afternoon; Pacific Gas & Electric expected full restoration by 2 p.m. Monday. Waymo operates about 1,000 vehicles in the Bay Area and has faced prior deployment issues. Experts noted vehicles are typically designed to operate when wireless networks fail or traffic lights lose power.

Read at The Mercury News