Police stopped a driverless Waymo car that made an illegal maneuver in San Bruno, California.
The two officers were on patrol when they saw the vehicle bust an illegal U-turn at a traffic light, according to a San Bruno Police Department Facebook post on Sept. 27.
“That’s right … no driver, no hands, no clue,” the Sept. 27 post read.
It was a new experience for the officers, who contacted Waymo about the “glitch.”
“Since there was no human driver, a ticket couldn’t be issued (our citation books don’t have a box for ‘robot’). Hopefully the reprogramming will keep it from making any more illegal moves,” the post read.
A driverless Waymo robotaxi making an illegal U-turn in San Bruno has highlighted a major gap in traffic law enforcement. Police on DUI patrol witnessed the Jaguar I-Pace maneuver, but under current California law, moving violations can only be issued to human drivers. With no… pic.twitter.com/CaCwn0gx8v
— NextMetropolis (@NextMetropolis) October 3, 2025
While humorous, the incident further exposes a gap in California legislation regarding self-driving cars.
“I bet everyday Californians wish that, when they made a mistake driving, they got a courtesy note instead of an expensive ticket,” Peter Finn, the Western Region vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said in 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Police in one Bay Area city expected to spend Friday night looking for impaired drivers. Instead, they found themselves pulling over a car with no driver at all.
During a grant-funded DUI enforcement operation in San Bruno, officers watched as one of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles… pic.twitter.com/y8P3Pg97pI— Mike Netter (@nettermike) September 28, 2025
Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1777 aiming to address the issue; the law reportedly takes effect in July.
But it would merely allow police to report self-driving car incidents to the Department of Motor Vehicles, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“We are looking into this situation and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience,” Waymo spokeswoman Julia Ilina said about the recent San Bruno incident.
A similar Waymo incident occurred in Atlanta on Monday, CBS News reported.
The car reportedly drove by a parked school bus flashing its red stop lights.
If it were a human driver, they’d be facing a $1,000 ticket, according to CBS.
“I think they need to be held to a higher standard,” Robert Sumwalt, former National Transportation Safety Board chair, said of the autonomous cars. “Before we have widespread use of self-driving vehicles, we’ve got to make sure that they are implemented properly.”
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