San Francisco’s emergency responders have a new, unexpected job title: unpaid Waymo wranglers. And apparently, they’re not thrilled about it.
City officials aired their frustrations publicly this week during a hearing that dug into a chaotic stretch in late December, when a power outage knocked out traffic signals across parts of San Francisco. Without functioning lights to follow, the city’s fleet of Waymo robotaxis did what any confused machine might do — they froze. Right in the middle of intersections. Multiple ones, simultaneously.
Police officers then had to step in and physically move the stalled vehicles, either by calling Waymo directly, summoning tow trucks, or just… nudging the things themselves. Not exactly what most people picture when they think “emergency response.”
“We Are Not AAA”
Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management, didn’t mince words during her testimony, reported Futurism. She told the hearing that police and firefighters are increasingly being pulled away from actual emergencies to babysit stranded autonomous vehicles — and that this has crossed from “occasional inconvenience” into genuine public safety concern…