Emergency First Responders Say Waymos Are Getting Worse

Emergency first responders in San Francisco and Austin report that Waymo autonomous vehicles are experiencing performance degradation, with vehicles frequently freezing, blocking emergency access, and failing to respond to hand signals during critical incidents—creating safety risks for both emergency crews and the public. As Waymo rapidly expands to 10 additional US cities, these operational failures and regulatory compliance gaps pose significant reputational and liability risks that could trigger stricter regulations, slow deployment timelines, and create integration challenges for municipal infrastructure and emergency response systems. IT and technology leaders should recognize this as a cautionary case study on premature technology deployment at scale and the critical importance of operational maturity, edge-case handling, and real-world integration testing before enterprise rollout.