Phoenix (AZFamily) – A Waymo was captured on camera this week driving onto Phoenix Light Rail tracks, forcing a passenger to flee the car before it drove onto the tracks near an oncoming train.
Video taken by a bystander near Central and South Avenues shows the moment the self-driving car stops on the tracks just before the oncoming light rail approaches. The passenger ran out of the vehicle before the car ran onto the tracks near another train.
“I actually felt a little sorry for the car. It clearly made a bad decision and put itself in a tough spot,” said Andrew Maynard, an Emerging and Transformative Technology professor at ASU.
Maynard said that although these situations are rare, they do happen. “It’s really one of those borderline cases, what we call them. Something unexpected where the machine moves like a machine rather than a person,” Maynard said.
Waymo vehicles are equipped with 29 cameras and update their routes and systems weekly. However, the area where the incident occurred was under construction and light rail had been added to the location within the past year, which Maynard said may have contributed to the bending of the rail tracks.
“I think Waymo has a challenge because no matter what they do with their systems, there will always be unexpected situations where they have to learn from them,” Maynard said.
While incidents like this may raise doubts about how safe these cars are, Maynard said he believes they are safer than typical human drivers.
“In many circumstances, these cars are safer than human drivers because they don’t have the distractions that a human driver does,” Maynard said.
Valley Metro released the following statement:
“At approximately 9 a.m. Wednesday, a Valley Metro employee observed an autonomous Waymo vehicle on the northbound light rail tracks near Southern Avenue and Central Avenue in Phoenix. Our operations control center was immediately notified, light rail operations staff responded to the scene and Waymo was contacted. To minimize service impacts, northbound and southbound trains exchanged passengers before changing directions to continue service. Following the incident, There was no significant delay and the scene was clear by 9:15 am.
For any further information about Waymo, its vehicles or operations, please contact Waymo.“
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