Waymo's robotaxi blocked Kamala Harris' motorcade - cop had to tow the car manually

In a video circulating on social media, a Waymo robotaxi can be seen standing still across the street with its headlights on, while the surrounding traffic carefully maneuvers around the vehicle.

Moreover, as noted by the SF Standard publication, the car actually blocked the path of Vice President Kamala Harris's motorcade, which was heading down the same road towards the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco at that time.

Ultimately, the Waymo robotaxi remained immobile, necessitating one of the local police officers to manually tow the vehicle out of the way to clear the road.

HAPPENING NOW: A driverless @Waymo gets stuck making a u-turn as @VP's motorcade arrived at the Fairmont S.F.
An SFPD officer had to manually drive the vehicle out. We're hearing this wasn't the only one… @abc7newsbayareapic.twitter.com/uCdiTf9lbB

— LaurenABC7 (@LaurenABC7) September 28, 2024

Blocking roads is not new for Waymo: local residents have protested against robotaxis for obstructing emergency vehicle traffic and frequently causing congestion. Detractors of the driverless taxis even staged acts of sabotage by placing cones on the hoods of the cars to immobilize them, while one particularly active protester slashed the tires of 17 Waymo vehicles (but forgot about cameras and was quickly caught).

To date, driverless vehicles have not faced fines for traffic violations; however, on Friday, the California governor signed a bill that allows companies owning autonomous vehicles to face legal action. While judgments will not include fines, if violations accumulate, the local Department of Motor Vehicles may revoke their operating permits.