Waymo Cars Dangerously Halted During San Francisco Power Outage

San Francisco was hit with a major power outage Saturday night, turning the whole city into darkness and dangerously stalling a ton of self-driving Waymo taxis.

The citywide outage forced Waymo to halt its driverless car service, stranding the autonomous vehicles in the middle of the streets and intersections, according to pedestrians posting videos on X Saturday.

A Waymo spokesperson told SFGATE that ride-hailing services have been “temporarily suspended” due to the outage. They added, “We are focused on keeping our riders safe and ensuring emergency personnel have the clear access they need to do their work.”

The outlet reports the company had to shut down its operation at around 8 p.m. due to the cars being unable to operate without traffic signals.

According to online footage, at least four Waymo vehicles were parked in the middle of an intersection with their hazards on, creating a large traffic jam at the busy intersection in the North Beach neighborhood.

SFGATE reports thousands of San Franciscans still remain without power on Sunday morning, as PG&E crews continue to work to restore electricity after a now nearly day-long outage.