A Waymo robotaxi slammed into a minivan outside a California Costco and drove away without stopping, newly surfaced video shows.
The 20-second clip, which has circulated widely online, captures the light-blue autonomous vehicle colliding with another car at a Bay Area Costco location before continuing on its route. The struck vehicle then turned left and departed the scene as well. The footage has drawn more than 2,000 upvotes and over 500 comments across social platforms since surfacing.
The incident has sparked debate among viewers about fault and accountability in collisions involving driverless vehicles. “The driver gunning it out is at fault in this case. I’m sure they’ll are happy it just kept going, but the cameras probably got their plate,” one commenter wrote. Another viewer took a lighter tone about the autonomous vehicle’s unflinching departure. “The way the Waymo kept driving like nothing happened is actually hilarious,” they wrote.
The vehicle involved is Waymo’s Zeekr RT, a small all-electric robotaxi manufactured for the Alphabet subsidiary by a subsidiary of China’s Geely, which also owns Volvo. The model was built in 2024 but did not begin commercial service until this year. Although it shares basic hardware with Chinese electric passenger vans, the RT was produced exclusively for Waymo, according to MotorTrend.
The Costco collision adds to a growing catalog of unusual incidents involving Waymo’s expanding fleet of autonomous vehicles. The company has steadily increased its robotaxi operations in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin despite periodic setbacks involving its driverless systems.
In a separate recent complaint, a San Jose passenger reported that one of Waymo’s robotaxis drove off with his luggage still in the trunk after dropping him at the airport. The passenger said he was left watching the vehicle depart with his belongings, marking another strange chapter in the growing list of mishaps involving the autonomous vehicles.
Waymo, which operates as a subsidiary of Alphabet, has not publicly addressed the Costco collision or the circumstances that led its vehicle to continue operating after impact. The company’s robotaxis rely on a suite of cameras, lidar and radar systems to navigate roads and detect obstacles, though the video raises questions about how the system classified the collision and whether any alert was transmitted to Waymo’s remote operations center.
In the viral moment, the light-blue robotaxi strikes the other vehicle at what appears to be a parking lot or access road near the Costco, then proceeds forward without any visible pause or attempt to assess damage. The struck vehicle’s driver elected to leave the scene as well rather than pursue the robotaxi or await assistance.
California regulations require operators of autonomous vehicles to report collisions to the Department of Motor Vehicles, though the timeline for such reporting varies based on circumstances. Waymo has previously filed hundreds of collision reports with state regulators as its fleet has expanded across multiple cities.
Waymo continues to expand its commercial robotaxi service with new vehicle deployments planned.