California police pull over a self-driving Waymo for an illegal U-turn, but they can’t ticket

Waymo Car
Waymo Car Photo by FMT licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Police officers in Northern California were left scratching their heads after pulling over a Waymo self-driving taxi for making an illegal U-turn — only to discover there was no driver to ticket. The San Bruno Police Department said the incident happened early Saturday morning during a DUI checkpoint, when the autonomous vehicle suddenly made the illegal maneuver right in front of officers.

In a post that quickly went viral, the department shared photos of an officer peering into the empty car, joking, “That’s right… no driver, no hands, no clue.” Officers decided not to issue a citation, noting that their “citation books don’t have a box for ‘robot.’” Instead, they contacted Waymo to report the issue, calling it a “glitch” and expressing hope that reprogramming could prevent similar violations in the future.

The post sparked over 500 comments online, with many questioning why the company wasn’t fined and how police managed to get the vehicle to pull over in the first place. Sgt. Scott Smithmatungol explained that current laws only allow officers to ticket human drivers for moving violations — unlike parking tickets, which can be issued directly to a vehicle. However, a new California law taking effect next year will allow police to report autonomous driving violations to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which will determine possible penalties.

Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina told the Los Angeles Times that the company is investigating the incident and emphasized that its vehicles are closely monitored by regulators. “We are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience,” she said.

Waymo, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, operates its autonomous taxis in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and surrounding areas, including San Bruno. Sgt. Smithmatungol said the attention the story received was far beyond what the small department expected. “It blew up a lot bigger than we thought,” he told the Associated Press. “We’re not a large agency like San Francisco.”