ATLANTA — For now, Waymo’s self-driving cars are parked, and not just in Atlanta. Recent flooding concerns prompted the pause.
Combined with another concern, a video that went viral showing Waymo cars circling cul-de-sacs in Atlanta, added to a push for answers from Waymo.
Channel 2’s Steve Gehlbach spoke to a metro Atlanta attorney about liability, both inside and outside autonomous cars.
The attorney told Gehlbach that just because there’s no driver, it doesn’t mean there won’t be any responsibility once the cars are back on the road.
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Waymo told Channel 2 Action News their driverless cars reduce traffic injuries and improve road safety, whether riders are inside, or someone is outside a Waymo.
But some still question how they’re designed and deployed safely.
Seth Bader, a personal injury attorney and consumer advocate, said he sees potential risks, where instead of human judgment, they’ll have to look at a computer or company.
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“Now the focus really shifts to the system,” Bader said. “The legal calculus has definitely changed and I’m not sure, in fact I don’t believe the laws have necessarily kept up with the technology, so it does create some unique challenges.”
Waymo said it continues to make software updates after one of their empty cars got stuck in street flooding. Another, with a customer inside, couldn’t gauge how deep the water was and “just drove into a flooded street and gave up.”
The autonomous vehicles also came under fire after Channel 2 Action News showed a Buckhead neighborhood that was invaded by empty Waymos, circling the cul-de-sac while waiting for passengers.
At one point, a resident told Gehlbach that it looked like “we had 50 cars that came through between 6 and 7.”
In a statement about the cul-de-sac, Waymo told Channel 2 Action News that they “take community feedback seriously and have already addressed this routing behavior.”
But Bader said neighborhood streets, rain or shine, are much more unpredictable than a highway.
“I think these technology companies have a legal responsibility, heightened responsibility to make sure the systems are designed to work properly in these neighborhoods,” Bader said.
Waymo rides remain paused in Atlanta and other cities as the company says it is monitoring weather and road conditions.
A representative said it will resume service when it’s safe to do so.
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