It’s been a month since Waymo’s autonomous vehicles started taking fares broadly on Atlanta’s streets via the Uber app after more than a year of testing the cars without passengers.
From January 2024 through July 30, 2025, the Atlanta Police Department has responded to only two traffic crashes involving a Waymo, but the robotaxis were not deemed at fault in either of them, according to information obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Georgia Open Records Act requests.
Four other APD reports involving Waymo vehicles in that time concerned damaged or lost property and one was categorized as “miscellaneous non-crime,” records obtained by the AJC show.
But social media videos of confused Waymos around Atlanta have flowed.
In late June, the popular Instagram account @gafollowersofficial reposted a video of a Waymo stopping in the middle of the 17th and Spring Streets intersection.
Other videos depict Waymos stopping in the middle of a lane without traffic and struggling to navigate construction zones.
Commenters made jokes under the posts about the cars causing “way mo[re] traffic.”
In May, a Waymo disrupted a car-free Streets Alive event when it bypassed barricades.
“Not everything you see on social media provides the full picture — context is very important and there are often a number of possibilities,” Waymo spokesman Ethan Teicher wrote in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the social media videos.
A Waymo might be waiting to proceed around “unseen obstacles or ambiguous traffic control,” checking with its fleet response team or waiting to pull over because a door was left open, Teicher explained.
Riders who need assistance can access Waymo’s response team 24/7, Teicher said, which can help the rider or provide context to the vehicle itself to navigate a complex or unfamiliar scenario.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
If a ride ends early because of a vehicle issue, riders will get refunds and trip credits, he said. And the company will “ensure the entire fleet of vehicles learns from these scenarios.”
Waymo began testing its fleet of electric SUVs in Atlanta last year and started offering early access rides via Uber in May.
Lyft, meanwhile, is testing its own fleet of robotaxis and has announced plans to launch rides in Midtown Atlanta this summer in partnership with autonomous driving technology company May Mobility.
On the streets
Lynne Hardy was walking down Peachtree Street near Harris Street when she saw a Waymo encounter a delivery robot in the crosswalk.
“But the Waymo never stopped,” the Decatur resident told the AJC via email.
“The delivery robot immediately stopped and backed up. If they had crashed, who calls the police?”
According to Srinivas Peeta, a civil engineering professor at Georgia Tech, learning to handle new situations like this, especially involving other drivers and pedestrians, is key for Waymos and other AVs.
Peeta directs Tech’s Autonomous & Connected Transportation Lab, which studies AVs and their rollout in Atlanta.
Videos of confused or stopped Waymos, he said, are “not particularly surprising, because these autonomous driving systems are facing situations that they have not been familiar with.”
AVs are designed to drive “independent of any input from the humans.” But they are vastly outnumbered by human drivers, who can act unpredictably.
Plus, current infrastructure is designed for humans, according to Peeta. Insufficient street markings can confuse AVs.
AVs act based on data and sensor input, which can make it hard to react in real time, something humans are more easily able to do.
“That’s why they freeze,” Peeta said. “They are suddenly stopping because they’re trying to process.”
The more they learn, fewer incidents of confused cars are likely, he said.
In Atlanta, they’re learning to navigate complicated intersections and summer thunderstorms, he said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
‘Out of a sci-fi movie’
Garrett Townsend, a Canton resident, was initially skeptical of Waymos: “It felt like something out of a sci-fi movie.”
But after a ride in Midtown, Townsend — who works for the auto club AAA — was won over.
“The rides are smooth, the car follows every rule, and it’s actually kind of cool to just sit back and relax,” he said.
Waymo has not released Atlanta-specific safety or ridership data, but the company says its vehicles are involved in nearly 80% fewer injury-causing collisions than human drivers.
According to police reports reviewed by the AJC, the collision incidents involving Waymos in the last year and a half have only involved other drivers hitting Waymos — and no major injuries.
APD policy on Waymos states that the court system currently is “unable to process traffic citations for AV’s with no human operator.”
This means that if a Waymo is pulled over, the officer must file a report on the incident and any law violated, but no citation is given. If the AV has a human driver, the driver will be given a citation and held responsible for it.
From 2020 through March 2025, Waymo vehicles were involved — though not necessarily at fault — in 64 crashes nationally resulting in any injury. That’s according to Waymo data reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which did not include Atlanta.
Only two involved suspected serious injuries. Per the same data, 659 incidents resulted in property damage.
The technology is trained to recognize emergency vehicle lights and sirens using audio sensors that work with its cameras, LiDAR and radar sensors.
If a Waymo gets pulled over, someone from rider support will call in to speak with law enforcement, Teicher explained.
While Waymo has yet to venture onto Atlanta’s notorious freeways with riders, they are training on them with specialists behind the wheel, he said.
About the Authors
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
