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California Police Pull over a Self-Driving Taxi for an Illegal U-Turn, but They Can't Ticket
California traffic laws currently only allow citations to licensed human drivers, leaving autonomous vehicle violations unpunished until new regulations take effect next year.
- On Saturday, the San Bruno Police Department pulled over a Waymo robo-taxi after it made an illegal U-turn during a DUI operation, but officers could not issue a citation without a human driver.
- Under current California rules, traffic violations can be issued only to licensed human drivers, but a new state law kicking in next year will allow police to report autonomous-vehicle violations to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
- Officers contacted Waymo, robo-taxi operator, using a two-way communication system to report a "glitch," and Waymo, owned by Alphabet, said it is reviewing the incident and committed to improving safety.
- The department's Facebook post generated more than 500 comments and San Bruno official Scott Smithmatungol said `It blew up a lot bigger than we thought`, while police confirmed the vehicle safely pulled over when emergency lights were activated.
- Self-Driving technology is under scrutiny after Waymo's driverless taxi hit a cyclist last year and other incidents involved robo-cars blocking emergency vehicles or freezing.
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26 Articles
26 Articles
California police pull over self-driving Waymo for illegal U-turn — but officers can't ticket it
Police in California were perplexed when they pulled over a Waymo taxi after it made an illegal U-turn, only to find no driver behind the wheel and therefore, no one to ticket.
·United States
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Total News Sources26
Leaning Left2Leaning Right2Center19Last UpdatedBias Distribution82% Center
Bias Distribution
- 82% of the sources are Center
82% Center
C 82%
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