A police officer stopped a Waymo self-driving vehicle in Phoenix after it ran a red light and entered an oncoming lane of traffic, dispatch records show.
The incident took place on June 19, but local media, including Arizona Republic This week, police released body camera footage of the traffic stop, showing the vehicle weaving through traffic before eventually pulling into a parking lot. The footage also shows the officer’s point of view as he approaches an empty car.
Dispatch records (which are written in all caps) indicate that the vehicle was “SCARED” and that the officer was ultimately “UNABLE TO ISSUE A CITATION TO THE COMPUTER,” according to the Arizona Republic.
A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement that the vehicle “encountered inconsistent construction signage” and “briefly entered an unoccupied oncoming traffic lane,” which it occupied for about 30 seconds after being blocked from returning to the proper lane.
“The event lasted approximately one minute and there were no passengers in the vehicle,” the spokesperson said.
The Alphabet-owned robotaxi company has voluntarily recalled software twice this year after the accidents. The security of its software is also under investigation by federal regulators.
