Maybe it's me, but it sure doesn't seem like a good idea to drive the wrong way on a road. I'm just a measly human being, however, not the technological marvel that is a driverless car.
A recent viral video shows a driverless Waymo robotaxi driving straight into oncoming traffic in Austin, Texas. The post has garnered lots of upvotes on Reddit. In the video, you see that the robotaxi crawls to a halt facing the wrong direction, staring down oncoming traffic. Obviously out of sorts, it has its right turn signal on before whipping left into a gas station. "Just another day in Austin," reads the caption.
Perfectly executed maneuver, no notes.
The incident happened on a frontage road near I-35 in Austin, according to MySanAntonio. The local news source reported that neither the Austin Police Department nor the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department had received reports on the issue.
"Safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets," wrote a Waymo spokesperson in an email to Mashable. "We take situations like this seriously and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience."
It's been a rough month for Waymo and safety concerns. Earlier this month, it issued a software recall after reports its robotaxis were illegally passing school buses. A a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation found Waymos had passed buses in at least 19 incidents in Austin.
