Firefighters had to move a Waymo themselves after it blocked an emergency call

The robotaxi company is facing a number of safety-related concerns in California.

Robotaxis have reportedly obstructed multiple emergency vehicles in California, causing issues throughout the state.

Multiple internal reports from San Francisco firefighters say that Waymo’s fleet of cars blocked fire trucks on roadways. And according to The San Francisco Standard, while responding to a call in December, emergency responders were forced to get into the driver’s seat of one of Waymo’s robotaxis to move it out of the way after customer service failed to remotely reposition the car. 

“Verbal instructions for manual mode were provided but proved ineffective,” said a fire department report of the incident, which was acquired by The Standard. “It seemed like the gear selector on the Waymo was not working right. When the car was properly placed into reverse, it still only drove forward which could have caused further damage.” 

According to the documents, Waymos have blocked firehouse exits, stalled in front of responding ambulances and fire engines, and have obstructed the ability to fight fires. In at least four cases, emergency vehicles encountered stopped Waymos while responding to life-threatening calls, per The Standard.

Waymo says its cars interact with 50,000 emergency vehicles weekly in California without issue. “Our goal is to support first responders, not create additional work for them,” a spokesperson told The Standard. 

Safety hazards

In recent years, autonomous vehicles have been slowly increasing in popularity across the U.S. That’s especially true for the San Francisco area, where most of the cars are located.

According to a Pew Research Center poll published this month, only 5 percent of Americans had ever ridden in a driverless car. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed said they would feel uncomfortable in one; 7 percent said they would be “extremely or very comfortable” riding in one. 

Waymo first launched under Google in 2009 as a self-driving car project. The robotaxi service uses custom-built AI, radar, LiDAR, and cameras to navigate public roads without a human driver. The average Waymo One ride costs $19.69. 

Despite multiple hiccups on the road, Waymo is looking to expand further and faster than its competitors. Last week, the company announced plans to begin to roll out more fleets in San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa, Florida, and Denver. Waymo currently operates driverless cars in more than 10 cities. 

AV troubles

Waymo has faced a steady stream of safety-related challenges. 

In June, Waymo recalled 3,871 robotaxis after at least 13 reported incidents of cars driving into highway construction zones in Arizona and California. In a statement to Reuters, Waymo said it had “identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones. We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements.” 

In December, Waymo was met with angry critics after one of its cars ran over a cat that was pacing under its vehicle. Despite sensing activity both underneath and in front of the car, the vehicle still drove off. The cat was pronounced dead shortly after.

Autonomous vehicles have raised concerns on a national level, including with the ‌top U.S. auto safety official, Jonathan Morrison, who heads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“When it comes to vehicles that are designed to never be operated by a human, what we’re looking to do with this rulemaking is to establish those same performance requirements but get rid of the design-restricting elements,” said Morrison in an interview last week.

On Friday, Zoox, a Waymo competitor, recalled 105 robotaxis after one of its vehicles failed to detect heavy smoke and drove into it, per a report from Reuters. The company confirmed that on June 20, an unoccupied Zoox autonomous vehicle entered an active emergency fire scene. It reportedly braked hard while attempting to steer away before eventually coming to ​a stop.

This post originally appeared at inc.com.

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