Why I think Waymo getting stranded in San Francisco is a reality check

I’m not shocked, I’m annoyed. Several Waymo vehicles ended up stuck at dark intersections during San Francisco’s power outage, waving hazard lights like confused lawn ornaments. The company paused ride‑hail services — sensible — but the images of self‑driving taxis stranded in busy streets raise a real question: what happens when the tech meets messy, networked infrastructure?

Waymo says its system “responds to signs and signals,” which is great until signals vanish. Human drivers improvise — they look, gesture, negotiate with other drivers. Autonomous stacks need robust fallback logic and clear rules for ambiguous situations. Stopping and waiting is safe, but it’s not practical for dense urban traffic or when vehicles block intersections.

• What happened: A PG&E substation fire caused a citywide outage; traffic lights went dark and several Waymo cars stopped at intersections.
• Immediate response: Waymo suspended services and coordinated with city officials, but public photos showed cars sitting with hazard lights on.
• Why it matters: Relying primarily on traffic signals without layered fallbacks exposes a brittle failure mode that’s visible and risky in real traffic.
• Industry spin: Expect rivals to score PR points (I saw the Tesla jab). That doesn’t excuse the weakness — it highlights how fragile current stacks can be.

I want autonomous driving to work — I genuinely do — but I won’t accept staged demos as evidence. True progress means handling outages, partial sensor failure, and chaotic human behavior without freezing traffic. Regulators and companies should demand transparent post‑incident reports and simulations that show how systems behave under these exact stressors.

For the original reporting, see: Engadget — Waymo cars stranded during SF outage.

My Verdict: This is a wake‑up call, not a death knell — but it’s embarrassing theater that damages public trust. I want to see clear fallback policies, better edge case testing and honest post‑mortems. Would you still hop into a robo‑taxi after seeing footage like this?