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Waymo robotaxis are clearly the most advanced in terms of real-world customer service in Western countries. They are now operating at quite high volume in several cities. However, in San Antonio and now also Atlanta, they have been running into a problem. They keep trying to drive through flooded streets.
Waymo paused service in San Antonio previously, and now it’s also done so in Atlanta. A local news outlet got the Waymo on camera for a portion of the one hour or so that it sat there. “According to the company, the vehicle encountered a flooded roadway during what it described as an intense and unexpected period of rainfall across the city,” the news outlet writes. As a Floridian, I know well how fast summer rain can pour down. (And, yes, it’s already summer here.) But no decent driver, including an AI driver, should take their vehicle into a flooded street.
“The spokesperson said the vehicle stopped after entering the flooded area and was later recovered and removed from the scene. No passengers were inside the vehicle at the time, and no injuries were reported,” WBR writes. “A photo of the Waymo driving directly into a massive flood zone was sent into 11Alive by a viewer. The vehicle then stalled out before later being cleared and driven away by a person after the flood waters receded after about an hour.”
