A Waymo “driverless” taxi drove into a crime scene in west London as it was being tested on the streets of the capital.
Dramatic video posted on TikTok shows the moment the vehicle careers into a police cordon in Harlesden as officers investigate a double stabbing.
The white car – which is designed to be full autonomous – can be seen crashing into the crime scene, seemingly oblivious of a police vehicle’s flashing lights and siren and ‘Do Not Cross’ tape stretched across the road.
After the car brakes sharply to a stop, two police officers are seen engaging in conversation with a person sitting in the car before it reverses away.
@zonjy.media Driverless taxi waymo driver almost hit someone and drove straigh into crime scene tape almost hit a police officer obviously driverless taxi software seems like are not trained to avoid crime scene, crime scene tape, police car blue lights or ambulance blue lights in case of an accident. i think in my opinion this driverless taxi waymo are more risk than the public thinks. do you think this is safe enough to be in the streets of london. it puts police officers and emergency service people at risk last night.
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A spokesman for Waymo told the Daily Mail the car was being manually driven at the time – and that the driver involved had been suspended.
He said “initial analysis suggests” the car would have identified the danger and stopped had it been in automated mode.
The firm added: “We sincerely apologise for any disruption caused by this validation driver, who was operating the vehicle in manual mode. We take this matter seriously and are working with our operations partner to ensure appropriate actions are taken.”
The Standard has contacted Waymo for comment.
The incident happened on Wednesday evening as Met police detectives investigated a double stabbing in the centre of the west London neighbourhood.
Two men, both aged in their 20s, were attacked on Harlesden High Street at around 6.25pm.
Paramedics and London's Air Ambulance treated the two victims at the scene before rushing them to hospital. Police have yet to comment on the extent and severity of their injuries.
In February, one of the company’s driverless vehicles ended up in a crime scene in the US city of Atlanta after two officers were injured in a shooting.
Two months earlier, video emerged showing a Waymo robotaxi driving a passenger through the scene of a police standoff in downtown Los Angeles.
The taxi came across a street blocked by police vehicles before turning into an area that was not blocked off where other vehicles were also traveling, according to a Waymo spokesperson.
Waymo has previously spoken of its hopes that its driverless cars could be up and running in London by September this year.
The US firm is understood to have as many as 24 care driving around the capital with drivers in tow as they map the city ahead of a driverless release, subject to regulatory approvals.
Safety drivers are in place to ensure the vehicles are effective before a broader roll-out is planned for later this year.
If the rollout goes as planned, this will mark the first time the firm’s robotaxis will hit roads outside the US.
