Driverless Waymo Taxis Are Bugging Out In Atlanta

It's the subject of so much dystopian fiction, a future where our boldest technological advances are sabotaged by malfunctioning or rogue AI. One of the most common channels for that kind of tech anxiety in fiction is now seeping into reality in the form of glitching autonomous cars, increasingly available in the form of robotaxis in a number of U.S. cities.

Self-driving cars have been a dream for decades, but it's a dream perpetually paired with a certain level of apprehension. As pleasant as being shepherded around in an autonomous vehicle while you relax, read, or scroll on your phone sounds, many drivers are reluctant to cede control to a fully automated system.

Fears of rogue, self-driving vehicles causing major pileups or striking pedestrians have existed as long as the concept of autonomous cars itself, and recent developments in a northwest Atlanta neighborhood, where Waymos have been bugging out, piling up and blocking traffic, have done nothing to allay those fears. Though Waymo still believes it can make streets safer despite a number of recent incidents, the optics on situations like the one occurring in Atlanta make it an uphill battle for the autonomous car vendor.

As documented by CBS News, residents around a cul-de-sac in Atlanta have repeatedly borne witness to Waymo vehicles acting erratically. One resident captured cell phone video of the autonomous cars exceeding local speed limits and circling aimlessly through the cul-de-sac, and noted that they had "almost lost pets" to the driverless vehicles. At one point, when residents installed a traffic calming standee, a dozen or more Waymo cars all piled up in the cul-de-sac in confusion.

The Atlanta incident is one of many blips on Waymo's recent record. The most serious, reported on by Dallas' Fox 4 News, shows a Waymo car blocking an ambulance attempting to respond to a deadly shooting in Austin, Texas. The ambulance was attempting to reach the scene of a shooting on Austin's 6th Street that left three dead, including the gunman, and injured 14 others. In a video captured by bystanders, a Waymo straddles a road, blocking an ambulance with its emergency lights on. The driverless car creeps forward before stopping again, still obstructing the emergency vehicle, until finally maneuvering out of the road and entering an adjacent parking structure.

Highly visible missteps have plagued Waymo practically since the company's inception. A power outage in San Francisco in 2025 led to a number of the vehicles shutting down and blocking traffic. There have also been a number of reports of Waymo cars driving dangerously or aggressively, including making U-turns and other illegal maneuvers.

Earlier this month, the company was forced to issue a recall for nearly 3,800 vehicles after a software issue caused them to attempt to navigate through flooded roads. During one such incident, an unoccupied Waymo attempting to cross a flooded road was swept into a creek. This follows on the heels of a separate Waymo recall back in 2025, triggered by more than five instances in Texas of the driverless taxis ignoring the stop signs on school buses and passing them while stopped. During one of those incidents, according to a letter from a school district released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a Waymo passed a stopped bus moments after a student had crossed in front of it and while the student was still in the roadway.