Woman Orders A Self-Driving Waymo In Los Angeles. Viewers Believe It Breaks The Law With Her In The Car
“Are you gonna run it? You’re running the light! You’re running the light! You just ran the light!”
A Los Angeles woman recorded a self-driving Waymo possibly running a red light. Viewers are divided over the safety of the service.
On Oct. 16, TikTok user Mikayla (@heyitsmikayy) recorded her Waymo crossing an intersection while the traffic light was yellow. As the vehicle is crossing, the light turns red. The viral video has amassed over 874,400 views as of Wednesday.
In the video, as the car is approaching the yellow traffic light without slowing down, the passenger yells, “Are you gonna run it? You’re running the light! You’re running the light! You just ran the light!”
The text overlay reads “That’s right—my waymo straight up just ran a red light.”
Did Waymo Break The Law?
Viewers are divided over whether this incident was safe and legal.
“It’s different state by state and luckily this is legal in CA!” claimed one comment.
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“I feel like it's important to mention that abrupt braking can also be very dangerous if there is someone behind, added another user. “Since it didn't run the light, seems like this was the smartest choice.”
However, many users were arguing that Waymo should not have acted in this way. “The amount of people who think that being in the intersection while the light is red is not running the light tells me we need to test harder,” stated one comment.
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“Regardless if it is legal, Waymo should have chosen the safest option which is slowing down,” added another.
Responding to that comment, the original poster chimed in. “This is what I’m here to say, yes!! It is extremely unclear how sharp the reflexes of the car are if there’s an issue at the intersection. If there was an accident, I don’t even know the protocol and the website does not state either! Do I invite the person we hit into the Waymo to talk to customer service?”
Many users even shared similar experiences. “Yesterday, mine sped up at a yellow light, ran a red, switched lanes in the middle of the intersection, and actually beat another car in a race,” said one individual in the comments. “I was shocked.”
The laws governing yellow traffic lights in California are relatively clear and state that a yellow light means caution and signals that a red light is imminent. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles Driver Handbook, a driver “should stop — if you can do so safely” when approaching a solid yellow light.”
This does mean that the vehicle did not necessarily break the law, especially if there were other cars in proximity to the vehicle, which might have made it unsafe to abruptly stop.
How Safe Is A Waymo?
The data around the safety of self-driving services such as Waymo is encouraging, though nuanced. Waymo publishes its safety impact statistics showing that its “Waymo Driver” system has fewer injury-causing crashes and fewer airbag deployments compared with human-driven vehicles in the areas where it operates.
One independent peer-reviewed study covering 56.7 million autonomous miles found that Waymo’s intersection crash incident rate was about 90% lower than the human driver benchmark for that category.
It does ultimately appear that the actions recorded in the video were legal. While statistics do indicate that self-driving cars are less likely to crash than human-operated vehicles, incidents such as the one recorded have still caused many people to be concerned.
Inside EVs reached out to Mikayla via TikTok DM and Waymo via email for comment.
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