In April, downtown Phoenix experienced a traffic jam. The police tried to clear the stuck vehicles out of the way. But nobody was behind the wheel of the twelve cars that caused the traffic jam.
The image is strongly reminiscent of the collection of autonomous cruise vehicles in San Francisco that have been driving for hours blocked the road. In this case, there were twelve Jaguar robotic taxis from Waymo, those on the street in downtown Phoenix stopped. It was April 7, 2023 at 8 p.m.
Waymo explained the incident with security considerations. The cars would sometimes consider stopping to be the safest measure. That would be the case here. The software code has since been updated.
However, the incident also raises other questions about the Waymo fleet that roamed the streets of Phoenix. In the most recent report of National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) 12 accidents involving Waymos have been listed in Arizona since July 2021. Mainly with that Chrysler Pacifica model, which can be phased out in the meantime. No injuries were reported in any of the accidents.
When asked by a US media outlet, Waymo replied that the incident had nothing to do with too many bookings. The error would be in a software that has already been updated. There is speculation of a deliberate incident that Waymo does not confirm. Cruise also failed to provide an exact explanation as to why they gathered.