Waymo's autonomous vehicles have repeatedly required manual intervention from police and firefighters in several cities after stalling in traffic. In San Francisco, officials have voiced concerns about first responders acting as "roadside assistance," particularly after a December 2025 power outage left numerous robotaxis blocking intersections. More recently, a police officer in Nashville had to manually drive a stalled Waymo out of a busy intersection.
These events underscore ongoing challenges with the technology in unpredictable situations. In early March 2026, a Waymo vehicle briefly blocked an ambulance responding to a mass shooting in Austin. Waymo has stated that it is working to address these issues and has been training first responders on how to manually operate the vehicles when necessary.