In the past year, Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has rapidly expanded its fleet of autonomous, self-driving vehicles across Santa Clara county. New zones appear every month, and Waymo’s service area increases without bound. Once a futuristic novelty, Waymos have become an everyday sight. But amid all that growth, there is a meaningful question that has been overlooked: When did we decide to turn Mountain View and Palo Alto into Waymo’s proving ground?
Because that is what is happening — a massive, real-time experiment on public roads, without public consent. While the sleek, white Jaguar I-Paces may look harmless, the rapid expansion raises real concerns about safety, accountability and who gets to choose the future of transportation in the communities we live in.
If you live in or around the Midpeninsula, you have probably seen a Waymo before. Maybe you’ve seen one stop in the middle of a turn, hesitate before a busy intersection or merge into a bike lane. Most recently, a beloved neighborhood cat named Kit Kat in San Francisco’s Mission District was run over by a Waymo.
The issue is not that autonomous vehicles are reckless — in many cases, they are more careful than humans. Rather, it’s that these vehicles behave in ways humans cannot predict. In an area with dense bike traffic and student drivers, unpredictability is a risk in its own right.
However, part of the issue is not just how these cars behave, but rather how our state chooses to regulate them. Outside of Phoenix, California is the only place that allows autonomous vehicles to operate on highways, where speeds are higher and small errors have greater consequences. Waymo is already testing on Interstate Highway 101 and Interstate Highway 280. While regulators argue the introduction of Waymos to city streets is innovation, for people who actually share the road, it feels like we are beta-testers for something we never agreed to.
A quick search online leads to a host of videos: Waymos swarming empty parking lots, stopping in front of fire trucks (with their sirens on) or circling aimlessly. These errors do not represent the majority of cases, but they are real and a reminder that even the smartest AVs still get confused by roads we rely on daily.
Bikers are especially affected by this. As someone who frequently bikes to get around, a car that fails to interpret hand signals or lane movements is a serious risk. Waymos are getting more assertive with their driving and, based on my experience, do not hesitate to cut off a biker or make a quick turn as I cross the street.
So, our question becomes: Who gets to decide how much risk is acceptable? Is it Waymo executives in Mountain View? State regulators in Sacramento? Or is it the people actually living, biking and driving in Palo Alto, Los Altos and the rest of the midpeninsula? For many of us, it feels like the decision has already been made.
