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Driverless cars are becoming more common on South Florida roads. But questions remain about how they handle unexpected conditions.
NBC6 Investigates recently rode along in a Waymo robotaxi on a wet, rainy afternoon, to take a closer look at the company’s track record.
In South Florida, heavy rain and flooded streets are a fact of life, making safety in unpredictable conditions especially important.
During the ride, the Waymo encountered standing water on a South Florida roadway.
“Weather and weather conditions are a concern we have everywhere,” said Waymo’s Manager of Emergency Response and Outreach, Rob Patrick.
The ride was smooth. But earlier this year, Waymo recalled nearly 4,000 vehicles after a Waymo in San Antonio entered a flooded lane during extreme weather. The vehicle was empty at the time; however, the incident led Waymo to review its technology, specifically in scenarios involving both high-speed areas and flooded roadways. Other similar incidents have been reported.
Patrick said the company closely monitors conditions and adjusts operations when necessary.
“If at any time we determine that it’s not safe to continue to operate, we’ll reduce the fleet, or maybe if absolutely necessary, pause,” he said.
A month later, Waymo again recalled over 3,800 vehicles after some robotaxis drove into closed freeway construction zones in Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay area.
Patrick said Waymo’s system is designed to continuously improve from every experience across its fleet.
“Every one of these vehicles learns from every other experience of every other vehicle all the time. And when we make improvements, when we see things that can be done better, we make those improvements to the entire fleet, everyone.”
Several incidents involving autonomous vehicles have also drawn the attention of federal regulators.
One investigation is focused on a January crash in which a Waymo struck a child near a school in California, causing minor injuries. Waymo said the child suddenly stepped into the roadway and that the vehicle immediately slowed down.
Regulators are also reviewing incidents involving Waymo vehicles passing stopped school buses.
Patrick declined to discuss specific cases but said the company uses every incident as an opportunity to improve.
“In every event we learn from that and we’re always improving,” he added.
Waymo says its own data from five major U.S. cities shows its vehicles outperform human drivers. According to the company, Waymo vehicles were involved in 82% fewer injury-causing crashes.
The company also provided NBC6 Investigates with video from Miami showing a highway crash and a Waymo vehicle stopping quickly to avoid causing a second collision.
“I think the data supports the fact that these vehicles are making our roadways and our community safer. And I think the first responders see that as well,” Patrick said.
Before expanding operations in South Florida, Waymo conducted training sessions with local first responders.
NBC6 Investigates attended one of those sessions as Coral Gables police officers learned how to access and safely remove autonomous vehicles during emergencies.
“We’re supposed to have the answers on every scene. You got to be able to know how to get into it,” Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak said.
The training also addresses planning for major public events. Hudak said police now share road closure information with driverless car companies ahead of time.
“So, we do have areas that we will kind of restrict, obviously for security reasons, but also for traffic problems,” he said.
Those coordination efforts could become increasingly important as regulators have raised concerns about Waymos in emergency scenes.
In a July letter to autonomous vehicle developers, federal safety regulators cited incidents in which driverless vehicles “drove into active emergency scenes, blocked ambulances or firefighters, or failed to respond to warning signs like emergency lights, flares and traffic cones.”
“This is unacceptable. To state it bluntly: an AV that cannot safely interact with first responders is a danger to the general public,” wrote NTHSA’s administrator Jonathan Morrison.
In an emailed statement, Waymo told NBC6 Investigates:
“Waymo engaged directly with NHTSA following the letter and shared information about our approach to first responder interactions, including our technology, training program and ongoing work with public safety agencies.
Waymo vehicles regularly encounter the types of dynamic situations that occur on public roads, including emergency vehicles and active emergency scenes. Nationwide, Waymo vehicles successfully navigate more than 10,000 active emergency vehicle scenes each week.”
“We want to understand the first responder’s perspective,” Patrick said, “’What did you see? How did it go?’ And then we take all of that information back and we learn how to improve.”
He maintains that autonomous vehicles improve roadway safety by eliminating common human driving errors.
“These vehicles don’t get intoxicated and drive. These vehicles don’t get drowsy. These vehicles don’t look at their phone when they should be looking at the roadway,” Patrick said. “Those are key issues reducing highway deaths and major injuries in every community where we operate.”
A recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that Waymo vehicles operating fully autonomously had police-reportable crash involvement rates 68% lower than human drivers operating in the same areas.
The study also found that Waymo’s rate of rear-ending another vehicle was 91% lower than that of human drivers.
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