When an Arizona police officer initiated a traffic stop on a car that was cruising down the wrong side of the road, he was stunned to discover the car was completely empty. The intriguing event was captured on body-cam footage released by the Phoenix Police Department, which displayed the officer hot on the heels of a white Jaguar SUV that had been reportedly engaging in some perilous maneuvers. The dispatch revealed that the car was seen driving against traffic near Seventh Avenue and Osborn Road and even blasted through a red light, causing quite a stir.
However, as the officer approached the vehicle after it had pulled over, his astonishment was palpable when he realized there was no one behind the wheel. It was soon revealed that the car was actually a driverless Waymo taxi operated by Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. Phoenix, being among the select cities in the U.S. that permit autonomous vehicles, was the backdrop for this unusual encounter.
In the video, as the driver’s window rolls down, the car’s audio system patches the officer through to a Waymo representative. “So your car here drove into oncoming lanes of traffic,” the officer explained. The representative promised to investigate, acknowledging the situation, while the officer added, “Yeah, there’s like a little bit of a construction area, and it went on opposing lanes of traffic, which is real bad.”
A Waymo support staffer was later dispatched to the scene to aid the officer in resolving the situation. This sparked a flurry of curiosity and amusement on Reddit, with users pondering over the legal ramifications of a driverless vehicle committing traffic violations. The discussions centered around who, if anyone, would receive a ticket for the infractions.
According to Waymo, the vehicle had encountered “inconsistent construction signage,” which led it to navigate incorrectly into the opposing traffic lane. The car was momentarily “blocked” from re-entering the correct lane, taking about 30 seconds before it was stopped by the police. Waymo described the event as lasting “approximately one minute” and stated that the vehicle moved forward to clear the intersection before parking in the next available lot.
As the discussions unfolded on Reddit, one user mused, “Who takes the ticket for dangerous or reckless driving like in this video?” Another humorously inquired, “Who does he write a ticket to?” and a third commented, “This is going to be a nightmare for the court system in the upcoming years.”
Ultimately, the incident concluded without the need for further action, with dispatch records noting that the officer was “unable to issue a citation to a computer.”