You’ll never want to take a Waymo robotaxi again after you see what it did during an active police standoff

A viral video circulating this week shows an autonomous Waymo vehicle rolling directly into the middle of an active LAPD standoff, surprising everyone involved. The clip, recorded by a nearby witness, captures the self-driving car turning left and gliding directly toward a line of armed police officers.

The scene was pure chaos, complete with a police helicopter circling overhead and officers shouting commands. Right beside a truck, a suspect lay face down on the pavement, looking up at the Waymo as it crept into view, per Daily Dot. Bystanders filming the event were captured nervously laughing, because the whole thing looked less like real life and more like a scene that had wandered onto the set of a ridiculously intense action film.

There’s a lot to gain from this, like how autonomous vehicles (AVs) behave when confronted with chaotic, high-stakes situations that no engineer can fully script. When you’ve got a dynamic, rapidly changing event like an armed standoff, you want a system that can interpret the danger, not just follow mapped routes.

It happening once is enough for me not to use the service again

Waymo, however, offered a different view of the incident, stressing that safety remains its top priority. A company spokesperson explained that the fully autonomous Waymo vehicle was serving riders in Los Angeles when it came across a street blocked by police vehicles. The system then proceeded to turn into an un-blocked area, which is where other human-driven vehicles were also traveling.

In their defense, the spokesperson confirmed that Waymo was in the immediate vicinity of the event for no more than 15 seconds before it quickly cleared the scene. While 15 seconds might sound like a long time when you’re potentially in the crossfire, it’s a pretty rapid exit for an automated system trying to figure things out. Waymo added that when they encounter unusual events like this one, they use the data to learn from them as they continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities.

The passengers can grab the steering wheel, and it will stop the car. The thing is that doing so without a good reason will lead to a lifetime ban.

The car avoided officers and ultimately cleared the area without causing any harm. The video proves that there are still serious gaps in how AVs interpret truly chaotic, unscripted human conflict. If you’re riding in one of these, you’re definitely hoping the system chooses self-preservation over strictly following the fastest route, but it will even pass red lights, so it’s hard to say this is completely safe.