Driverless cars are becoming increasingly more common around the country’s large cities, particularly in cities in the Bay Area of California, as they primarily started their testing there. Waymo is one such company that has vehicles prominently seen in the city. While they are in their testing phases, their vehicles are often used like taxi cabs, allowing customers to order a car and have a ride in a car with no driver. However, this weekend a Waymo vehicle was involved in a fatal multi-car crash involving seven other vehicles, all of which were regularly driven vehicles.
The accident happened around 6th and Harrison Street.
The crash occurred after a 66 year old man driving his Tesla ran his vehicle into the other vehicles on the road. The accident occurred around 6 p.m. on Sunday night. Recent reports say that one person and a dog were killed in the accident and at least seven others were injured. The driver of the Tesla has been arrested for suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, vandalism, and speeding.
People who were nearby gave statements to local news affiliates about what they witnessed. One man, Darius Davis, described the crash as sounding like a sonic boom. With the loud sound, he also explained that he could see car pieces going everywhere as a result of the accident. One woman who lives nearby stated she was listening on an EMT scanner and heard several repeated calls for medical backup. At this time, there have been no reports whether the driver behind the original collision had any alcohol or drugs in his system.
Though the Waymo was not responsible for the accident, its involvement did raise concerns for many.
This accident marks the first time a Waymo vehicle has been apart of an accident in which there were fatalities. In general, it actually marks the first time any sort of driverless car has been apart of a fatal crash. However, an incident occurred back in 2018 where a self-driving vehicle that was in early testing stages with a driver present in the vehicle was involved in a fatal crash. This vehicle was from Uber.
A spokesperson from Waymo has released a statement on behalf of the organization in which they explained the car was rear-ended by another vehicle while sitting in stand-still traffic. At the time of the incident, the car did not have a passenger. Reports show that the Tesla first hit one car after speeding and the car hit by the Tesla hit the Waymo and the domino effect continued, creating the pileup.
Waymo’s autonomous cars have driven over 33 million miles and offered over five million rides around four major U.S. cities. San Francisco continues to be home to around 300 Waymo cars and does not plan to pull out of the roads after this accident.