Waymo temporarily adjusted operations of its robotaxi service due to a power outage in San Francisco. TechCrunch reported on July 18 that some users saw notices on their screens saying the service was “temporarily suspended” and that “highway routes are unavailable.”
The outage was believed to have affected about 7,000 PG&E customers in San Francisco. Waymo said it was temporarily adjusting the service while monitoring local conditions and would return to normal operations as soon as possible.
This was not the first time a power outage has disrupted Waymo operations. In December last year, several Waymo vehicles stopped on downtown streets during an outage. A similar incident occurred during fireworks on the Golden Gate Bridge on July 4, bringing traffic to a standstill.
As such incidents repeated, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie (대니얼 루리) urged stronger state regulation so that self-driving cars can appropriately address how they operate during major accidents or incidents, regardless of whether they are planned.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr