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Waymo Driverless Car Drives Into Active Police Standoff

Is this just a small glitch in a promising technology, or a troubling sign of an ever-growing surveillance society?

Published 3 days ago

Waymo Driverless Car Drives Into Active Police Standoff

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Above: A Waymo self-driving Jaguar drives along Venice Beach in Los Angeles on March 14, 2024. Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The Spin

Techno-optimist narrative

While autonomous Waymo vehicles, like any car or driver, aren't perfect, occasional incidents like this shouldn't distract from how phenomenal these cars have become. With 96 million miles logged and 91% fewer serious-injury crashes than humans, most reported collisions weren't the vehicles' fault. The data shows Waymo's tech is already dramatically safer than typical drivers.

Zego Futurism

Techno-skeptic narrative

Even if Waymo is safer on paper, expanding "self-driving" tech without strict oversight ignores a bigger threat — cars are becoming rolling surveillance devices. Automakers already share location and behavior data without consent, and vulnerable people can be tracked or harmed. Until privacy, regulation, and misuse risks are addressed, celebrating autonomous vehicles is premature.

The Baylor Lariat Electronic Frontier Foundation

Taylor Lorenz on Youtube

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 50% chance that Uber will announce a partnership with a second autonomous vehicle company (besides Waymo) by January 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Limited Coverage

This story currently has limited coverage. We will continue to monitor all major outlets and update our reporting as additional information becomes available.