Power Outage Halts Waymo, Tow Operators Respond

Waymo temporarily suspended its self-driving ride-hailing service in San Francisco after a widespread power outage knocked out traffic signals across the city, leaving many of its autonomous vehicles stopped at darkened intersections. The outage affected tens of thousands of residents and created traffic congestion as Waymo vehicles remained stationary while attempting to assess uncontrolled crossings.

Tow truck operators reported towing Waymo vehicles for hours overnight as the disruption continued. Videos posted on social media showed driverless cars stopped with hazard lights flashing, frustrating motorists and contributing to gridlock in several neighborhoods. City officials said the mayor’s office contacted Waymo after the stalled vehicles added to traffic problems, prompting the company to pause service across the Bay Area.

Waymo said its vehicles are designed to treat nonfunctioning traffic signals as four-way stops, but the scale of the outage led some cars to remain stopped longer than usual while confirming conditions. No accidents or injuries were reported.

Service resumed after power was restored, but the incident underscored the essential role towing professionals play when autonomous vehicles are unable to recover on their own during large-scale infrastructure failures.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com