After the autonomous vehicle performed the forbidden maneuver at a traffic light, the officers flashed their lights and sounded the siren, causing the car to pull safely to the curb. Using onboard tech, the police contacted Waymo, the company behind the self-driving fleet, alerting them to the violation. The department hopes that Waymo will “reprogram” the vehicle to prevent future traffic law glitches.
This incident exposed a legal grey area: current laws don’t allow citations to be issued to driverless cars themselves. Despite California passing legislation last year to empower officers to issue “notices of noncompliance” to companies operating autonomous vehicles, the law won’t take effect until July next year. When active, it will require companies like Waymo to set up emergency hotlines for first responders and face penalties if their cars break the rules.
Waymo responded saying they’re “looking into the situation,” stressing that their technology is designed to obey traffic laws and using “ongoing learnings and experience” to improve safety. The company’s fleet, which has been operating in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles for years, relies on an array of external cameras and sensors to navigate urban landscapes.
Yet this isn’t the first glitch. Earlier in 2025, Waymo recalled over 1,200 vehicles due to software flaws causing collisions with stationary objects like gates and chains. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating after reports surfaced alleging some Waymo vehicles engaged in unsafe or illegal driving behavior.
For now, if a robot car breaks the law, it seems the rules will need catching up to the technology. But with legislation in the pipeline, driverless cars may soon feel the sting of traffic tickets ... whether they have hands on a wheel or not.