A vehicle doing an illegal U-turn in the road has avoided being fined due to it being driverless. Police in California stopped the Waymo car after it completed the manoeuvre “right in front” of the authorities at a traffic light. However, the San Bruno Police Department said: “Since there was no human driver, a ticket couldn’t be issued.” Officers said they are not able to book a “robot”, so no ticket was issued.
The police department explained that there was “no driver, no hands, no clue”, adding that it was a “plot twist” to the incident. After the U-turn, police officers flashed their lights and sounded a siren to stop the car, which pulled over immediately. The authorities then managed to communicate with someone from Waymo using technology inside the car.
The police department said it hopes that the vehicle’s “reprogramming” will prevent it from making any more illegal moves in the future.
Legislation is also being drafted to allow the authorities to issue notices and tickets directly to companies.
The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, signed into law a bill last year allowing officers to issue a “notice of noncompliance” if a driverless car breaks traffic laws. However, the law does not take effect until July next year.
The law will also require companies to set up a direct emergency phone line for first responders.
Waymo, the car maker, told NBC that it is “looking into the situation” and that the “ongoing learnings and experience” will strengthen the vehicle’s safety.
Waymo cars were launched as a project under Google’s X research lab over a decade ago. The vehicle operates through external cameras and sensors.
Earlier this year, the company experienced a major software issue, which resulted in more than 1,200 cars being recalled. The fault caused collisions with chains, gates and other stationary road barriers.
Waymo was also being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after it received 22 reports of the vehicles acting dangerously and allegedly violating traffic safety regulations.
