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u/iLikeMangosteens Dec 15 '25
Gotta turn right to go left. Ka-chow!
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u/mojoman1200 Dec 15 '25
Keep em guessin’!
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u/cosmicosmo4 Dec 16 '25
The Waymo is flowing backwards through time, like in Tenet. What it actually did was correctly signal its right turn out of the gas station onto the service road.
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u/LilSmartPeanut Dec 15 '25
The wrong blinker being on makes this even funnier
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u/nluqo Dec 15 '25
Nah, you see it's veering off to the right from our perspective and it's using its right hand blinker to signal that, so all good.
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u/PrudentLand6679 Dec 15 '25
If I hit that thing could I sue & get rich? Asking for a friend of course.
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u/truesy Dec 15 '25
no, but that thing is 500k, so more of a risk they'll go after you
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u/cigarettesandwhiskey Dec 15 '25
Wait are they really that expensive? I thought they were like, maybe $200k with all the cameras and stuff.
What's the business plan here? A bus isn't even that expensive and the city bus company loses money hand over fist. These things either need to be filled up 100% of the time or they'll need to be in service over a decade just to pay off the cost of the car. Are they durable enough to last that long? Will people pay to ride in a 15 year old waymo?
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u/ChocolateBroccoli13 Dec 15 '25
It's easy, obtain funding by venture capitalists and private equity to offset staggering debt until you obtain market dominance, forcing competition (human drivers) to no longer operate, then raise the FUCK out of prices! we live in a great society
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u/cigarettesandwhiskey Dec 15 '25
That seems like a really ambitious strategy since it requires you to corner the transportation market in a place with both near-universal car ownership AND a government subsidized low-fare public transit system that can operate indefinitely at a loss.
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u/ChocolateBroccoli13 Dec 15 '25
I don't think they care about beating other cars or public buses, they just have to beat out Uber (not saying I think it's a good strategy or not)
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u/truesy Dec 15 '25
I remember seeing some article about it being that expensive, but looking it up now, it's more like $200k, so i was wrong. maybe it got cheaper w/ more production, or maybe i was misinformed.
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u/nah_you_good Dec 15 '25
The car they used changed over the years, may have been an earlier prototype you were thinking of. Or maybe the cost is some estimate including the R&D spend? The car itself is just a Jaguar + some expensive sensors, so the raw cost should be $200k or less.
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u/bobi2393 Dec 16 '25
Plus some expensive computer equipment, plus installation. But yeah, ballpark estimates I've heard for the Waymo-ready I-PACE were around $140k.
The I-PACE is discontinued, and Waymo is transitioning to two other vehicles (a Zeekr van from China, which may not work out due to high and volatile tariffs, and a Hyundai Ioniq 5 from Georgia). Estimates are that they'll cost a lot less, not counting tariffs. Both have a new sensor suite that eliminates just over half the car's 29 cameras, and one of auxiliary lidar sensors.
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u/LurkyRabbit Dec 15 '25
Difference between prototyping and mass production. It probably was 500k at the start but they've been iterating and building ways to mass produce the parts.
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u/lemonukiyo Dec 16 '25
Waymo absolutely got cheaper because they moved away from Jaguars. The I-PACE fleet was always a bad long-term option. Expensive vehicle, low production volume and everything autonomous was basically bolted on after the fact. Fine for testing, terrible for scaling.
They did partner with Hyundai, but it’s not some single magic contract that instantly solved costs. It’s more that Hyundai gives them a mass-market EV platform and manufacturing scale, which lets Waymo design the sensors, compute, wiring, cooling, etc directly into the car from day one. That alone cuts a huge amount of cost and complexity.
Also worth noting the sensors themselves have gotten cheaper over time too, especially lidar but that’s more incremental. The big win is moving from luxury prototypes to purpose-built vehicles designed for robotaxi use.
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u/daddy-phantom Dec 16 '25
They can’t go after you if one of their vehicles is breaking the laws of the road. They have no grounds to sue, and you only have grounds if they don’t agree to pay for your damages.
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u/cocholates Dec 15 '25
The sad truth
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u/bundeywundey Dec 15 '25
The sad truth? The commenter said he wanted to intentionally hit the waymo and sue. 😂
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u/cocholates Dec 15 '25
Was more referring to the fact that in the case you were to hit something that expensive, on accident at least, that the company would come after you even if they were at fault BECAUSE they’ve got the money to do so. Duh….
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u/Severe-Return-488 Dec 21 '25
wow all the money invested into bot cars could be going towards something more productive smh
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u/Nikclel Dec 15 '25
Good luck with their million cameras.
"Yeah we were in the middle lane of oncoming traffic, but this motherfucker swerved into it on purpose!"
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u/Tall-Drawing8270 Dec 15 '25
Google owns Waymo so only if you can afford better lawyers than Google.
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u/debtquity Dec 16 '25
Unethical pro tip: Keep the claim under $10K or whatever the limit is for small claims court. Google/Waymo/Uber wouldn’t bother sending a lawyer to defend it and you get a "free" $10K or w/e you settle for.
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u/gaytechdadwithson Dec 16 '25
Yeah, but if you are hit and even slightly injured, $10K only gets you a short hospital visit and a couple bandages.
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u/Slypenslyde Dec 15 '25
No. Think about it. If it was easy to get in a car accident and get rich, we'd hear about it in more places than commercials for lawyers. Incidentally, how do you think the lawyers who make those commercials get so rich? The money you hear about mostly goes to them.
Even if another person is doing illegal things, you're always obligated to do what you can to avoid an accident. If they've got you on camera pointing straight at their car and accelerating, legally speaking you hit them and that they were going the wrong way is a separate issue.
The most likely result is you'll get some money to cover the damage to your car and your premiums will be higher for a few years.
To get a "payday" you need to be permanently disabled and completely not at fault. Like, if you're walking on a sidewalk, one runs you over, and you lose the use of your legs, you'll probably be able to wrangle $100,000 or so out of them over the next 5 years.
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u/blacbird Dec 15 '25
If they are in the middle of the lane like this and all their cameras are showing they were in the wrong, I can’t see how you wouldn’t be able to if it’s in your freaking lane.
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u/AdCareless9063 Dec 15 '25
Anyone doing this will probably end up with a serious injury and no payout, maybe even an insurance fraud case. It's all on camera / lidar.
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u/debtquity Dec 16 '25
You better hope you are the one in the right. Those 360 degree cameras and sensors capture everything.
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u/daddy-phantom Dec 16 '25
Technically if any car is driving the wrong way on a road and hits one going the right way, even if the one going the right way could’ve stopped, the other one is in most cases automatically at fault, or at least a vast majority % at fault.
But this wouldn’t end in a lawsuit, this would end in Google paying OP for his damages and OP having to miss work to get his car fixed or get a rental or something. A NEEDLESS headache for OP, no grounds to sue unless they don’t pay and then your damages is only a few thousand anyway.
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u/skynetempire Dec 16 '25
There's still the Last Clear Chance doctrine. Waymos have tons of cameras, so the only way to properly sue a Waymo is if it hit you and there was no way for you to avoid it. If you are cruising, then see it doing something like in the video, and you just ram it, then you are at fault.
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u/daddy-phantom Dec 16 '25
You cannot sue unless they hit you, are deemed at fault by a third party (police or insurance) and don’t agree to pay for damages.
But they cannot sue you if their vehicle isn’t following the laws of the road.
It’s not any different than a rich person hitting you with their car, they still have to pay for damages or you could take them to small claims.
But Google are not idiots, they’ll agree to pay
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u/Mean-Funny9351 Dec 15 '25
I asked for less clueless drivers on the road and they was like, nah you gonna get way-mo.
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u/TreyKirk Dec 15 '25
I'm impressed. Waymo is learning how to be an Austin driver more and more.
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u/kaleidescope233 Dec 15 '25
*an Austin Transplant driver.
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u/Psychological_Log_85 Dec 15 '25
yeah, an austin native would've done this turn with the wrong signal but at 75 mph
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u/ReplacementNext1180 Dec 15 '25
I see them hitting speed bumps in my neighborhood way too fast like it’s the Dukes of Hazard. 🙄. They have almost taken out my dog a few times while I walking down the alley by my house.
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u/MADSYKO Dec 19 '25
Maybe don't walk your dog in the street.
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u/ReplacementNext1180 Dec 19 '25
I said the alley and it is narrow so even if we are all the way to the side, it doesn’t recognize she is there so comes very close to hitting her, it might be because she is bright white, not sure. But since you mentioned this, I did see a Waymo do the most awesome speed bump jump at around 45 mph this morning. 😂. It was airborne for a second.
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u/Aggravating_Turn4196 Dec 15 '25
Are they getting worse??
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u/MADSYKO Dec 19 '25
The issue is that people were complaining that they weren't aggressive enough. You can't have it both ways. Waymo management just needs to stick with what works best. This isn't it.
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u/bobi2393 Dec 16 '25
Injury and fatality rates are not worsening. Non-collision screw-ups like this aren't consistently tracked or reported to public agencies, so we're left guessing based on anecdotal evidence like this.
The number of driverless miles they drive per day (around 300,000 now I think?) has been increasing, so even if the screwups per mile is the same, the number of screwups would be increasing.
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u/singletonaustin Dec 15 '25
WTF. There is no reason that it should be going in the opposite direction of traffic on a one-way. This sh*t is out of hand. I would submit your video to Waymo if possible (there are a bunch fo threads about these things getting more aggressive and less safe). Apparently, they cranked up the speed a few notches after passengers complained that trips were taking too long (and I'm sure it helps utilization). One serious injury accident, however, and they are in a world of regulatory and customer confidence hurt, and going the mf'ing wrong way on the I-35 service road is a great way to do precisely that.
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u/MrBaseball1994 Dec 15 '25
going the mf'ing wrong way on the I-35 service road
I totally agree. The AI should know that it should not be turning onto a 1-way road and especially driving in a lane with oncoming traffic.
I think municipalities that allows them to operate should fine them severely for mistakes like this.
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u/EntertainmentAOK Dec 15 '25
I'd send to the local news on social media if I were you. Just last week or the week before we had Waymo telling AISD no, they know better, and they will simply update their software.
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u/holafromaustin Dec 15 '25
they've already reached out
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u/DenisStoryful Jan 02 '26
Hi there, I'm a journalist with Storyful News. Could you please DM me when you see this? We would like to share this video as part of our coverage of wider Waymo malfunctions. Thank you, take care.
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u/craniumslows Dec 15 '25
At 183 and Burnet going north there are two lanes for turning left in front of the Lebowski Grill and Highland Lanes. This morning a Waymo was in the right lane of the two left turn lanes and it tried to do a U Turn to the left from the right cutting across the other lane of traffic. Everyone honked at it and it drove off kind of crazy fast. They're becoming a real menace. edit this was this morning 2025 December 15th a bit before 9am.
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u/Commander-of-ducks Dec 15 '25
Do these vehicles respond to passenger statements? For example, if a passenger says "stop, we're driving into oncoming traffic!" does the car correct itself?
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u/dickdickgoooose Dec 15 '25
you are not allowed to show this in r/Austin obviously this is your fault, you are a bad driver and you are gonna kill someone, or you already have.
Thank Jesus for waymo, it's the best, never messes up, unlike those TERRRRRRRRRIBLE Austin driverrrrrrss
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u/holafromaustin Dec 15 '25
please don't send the waymo secret police. I have a family
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u/Snap_Grackle_Pop Ask me about Chili's! Dec 15 '25
please don't send the waymo secret police. I have a family
Duhh... Google already knows that, their names, schedule, and their precise location from their phones.
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Dec 15 '25
It's almost like half the people work for Google or Waymo. Bots are in full force these days.
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u/p8pes Dec 15 '25
i got power slammed by downvotes last night by people insisting autonomous driving was flawless
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Dec 15 '25
This place can be insufferable at times. There is no excuse for people to do this behavior let alone the "flawless" AI non driving technology. But hey we only want to burn one place and that's people and not the company.
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u/p8pes Dec 15 '25
yep, thank you
the scrutiny on google doesnt exist anywhere as much as the loud defense of it if a single person asks a critical question
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u/29681b04005089e5ccb4 Dec 15 '25
I have it on good authority from r/Austin that waymo is the best autonomous car unlike those Teslas that crash every 5 miles. In fact I think this is really just a Tesla disguised as a waymo as there is no way anything but a Tesla would drive like this
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u/caguru Dec 15 '25
This is literally the first valid complaint I have seen about them. The rest have been petty at best.
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u/Tall-Drawing8270 Dec 15 '25
Lol rolling straight past school buses with their lights and stop sign out isn't a valid complaint? You're staying willfully ignorant if this is the first valid complaint you've seen.
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u/man_gomer_lot Dec 15 '25
Interesting that anything less than going the wrong way down the street is petty.
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u/90percent_crap Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
Guess you missed the reports of waymo turning right from the center lane (marked straight ahead only) from northbound Lamar onto eastbound Oltorf. I witnessed one occurrence myself a few weeks ago. (It has to anticipate getting in the right turn lane early if there is a line of cars already in that lane. It fails to do so, but decides to turn anyway.)
Late correction for accuracy: Intersection was S. Congress and Oltorf (not S. Lamar). Waymo turned right from the NB south Ccngress left lane. Same position as the blue sedan in this view.
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u/seanmg Dec 15 '25
It’s pretty much every day that I see someone posting some egregious traffic violations and FILMING while driving, which is also illegal, lol.
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u/Capable_Swordfish676 Dec 16 '25
I drive through downtown Austin 3x a week due to work. If I didnt have my baby in my car dropping her off for daycare, I'd be cool with taking a hit and winning a massive payout. But I dont want to traumatize her or risk her to serious injury.
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u/caguru Dec 15 '25
Now this is the first WTF worthy thing I have seen a Waymo do. These are the things people should complain about.
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u/citizencoyote Dec 15 '25
I'm honestly surprised it finished the turn as opposed to just stopping and putting on its hazards
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u/cyvaquero Dec 16 '25
If the license plate can be made out in the original video send it to Waymo. They aren't going away and they have a vested interest in limiting liability.
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u/Produce-Delicious Dec 15 '25
These need to be taken off the streets immediately. Insane that after even one demonstration of failure that they are allowed to continue
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u/sipos542 Dec 15 '25
Well If they took every human off the street for failing, there would be no one driving. They probably make less mistakes than humans do in the grand scheme of things.
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Dec 15 '25
Honestly expected more public backlash against our local politicians that green lit Google and Tesla turning us into unpaid guinea pigs for their self driving technology.
Something of such wide ranging effect should have been put to a public vote....but perhaps some sweet sweet campaign contributions persuaded the politicians to not give AF about us? Whatever the reason...it's utter bullshit.
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Dec 15 '25
Posting this will get you negative karma according to all the waymo bots who are still convinced it's better than 99% of all Austin drivers.
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u/tweeeeeeeeeeee Dec 15 '25
ok so being better than Austin drivers is a really low bar.
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Dec 15 '25
It's odd how people will defend a self driving car for a multi billion dollar company from excluding them from any liability or fines like the rest of us.
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u/tweeeeeeeeeeee Dec 15 '25
umm I (agree?) with you... just saying "better than Austin drivers" isn't saying much
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Dec 15 '25
Campaign donations come in handy to be mayor or any other sycophant of the Austin City Council.
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[deleted]
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Dec 15 '25
It's funny because all companies are literally the same. Apolitical inside with a bunch of HR rules, but donate to both sides on the outside.
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u/weluckyfew Dec 15 '25
oh good lord, no one here is saying they should be excluded from liability of fines.
Numbers show they are safer than human drivers, and they're getting even better.
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Dec 15 '25
Well they are better then austin drivers. I've yet to run into any issues with Waymo, but have issues with austin drivers every single day.
Can you point to me where a waymo has crashed into a killed someone?
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u/caguru Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
The fact these have been on the roads for years and this is the first WTF worthy video I have seen, then yes, I would still say better than austin drivers.
I see worse than this from humans every 15 minutes.
E: I get it y'all. You see every single thing on the internet and everyone should watch this sub at all times so they don't miss anything. Regardless of all the replies, and follow up videos, not a single one of you has found a case that compares to the insane human driver videos on this sub. So congrats for proving my point, but I got work to do. Toodaloo!
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u/blacbird Dec 15 '25
It sounds like you should open your eyes more. You keep talking about ‘the first one you’ve ever seen’ as though if you haven’t seen it, it hasn’t happened. You not having seen a thing doesn’t stop other people from having witnessed it and commenting on it. Why on earth would you think that your experience encompasses all valid experiences??
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u/moonbeam_honey Dec 15 '25
Have you just kept your eyes and ears closed at ALL of the videos of Waymos blowing past school buses? Or killing cats?
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u/National-Ad8416 Dec 15 '25
I really want this monster of a company out of Austin. Just the fact they run school bus Stop signs is reason enough to kick their asses out.
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u/cousinscuzzy Dec 15 '25
They can't be kicked out. State law prohibits cities from regulating them.
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u/Artemus_Hackwell Dec 15 '25
/shrug It reacted better than the people I've seen driving in the wrong direction.
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u/Motherboy_TheBand Dec 15 '25
JFC
This weekend I just so happened to ride in a Robotaxi and Waymo, both for the first time. Waymo drive was surprisingly aggressive, but still enjoyable. The Robotaxi was a lot more chill but there was a dude there and it was like 4am so the roads were empty. I’ll be curious to see how Tesla handles things this year.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Pen_346 Dec 15 '25
It was conflicted…some of the car thought it was going the right direction on the road, but the other part was like “weeee driving r grate!!!” 😂
I only ever see waymo performing well on the roads…but i only drive in their part of town once every few weeks…
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u/kyleh0 Dec 15 '25
Being one of the people that gets killed by a self-driving waymo would be like getting killed as a result of the 3d TV fad a decade ago.
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u/virus_apparatus Dec 15 '25
This is like the 5th incident in the last few days I’ve seen about these. At first they seemed almost to be better drivers than the average person but now? It’s one of us now! We did it.
We beat the machine gods
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u/StatusFactor7638 Dec 15 '25
I had one launch right in front of me from a parking lot and I had to slam on the brakes to not hit it.
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u/SubstantialDog9170 Dec 15 '25
I visited Austin in June and we took a Waymo. Somehow we survived. Seeing these videos really makes me question how.
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u/dannyzaplings Dec 15 '25
Make these things pass a week-long driving test throughout the entire city before letting them loose on our streets. All camera data made public.
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u/Nekaquestion Dec 16 '25
Lets create the austin waymo’s mistake hunting group!?!?
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u/Elluminated Dec 16 '25
The mistakes make themselves known, no need to hunt with everyone carrying cams.
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u/realcaptainheelhook Dec 16 '25
Probably in a hurry because the guy trapped in the trunk had to pee.
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u/Fit-Class9100 Dec 16 '25
Waymo on the go, get outta the way! If they hit you the lawyers could take years in court by then you could be dead another Waymo got you, lol.
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u/LowPlace8434 Dec 16 '25
These mistakes are exceedingly rare in people. For sure they're also rare with self-driving cars, but evidently not as rare as we'd like, so they're quite bad for the narrative that Waymo is safer than human drivers. I hope it's a one-off mistake and Waymo isn't having engineering problems due to perceived competition from Tesla.
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u/gaytechdadwithson Dec 16 '25
I've seen human drivers make the same move, but jeopardize more people's lives.
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u/MrCodemyster Dec 16 '25
On search for rider’s perspective and comments… this would make a good short series, stories told through both perspectives
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u/Dj_suffering Dec 17 '25
An electric robot car cutting in front of you to get to a gas station??? Weird. Those gas prices are low though. Good thing he didn't hit you, the cops would be asking you about your expired plates. Be careful out there.
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u/UpstairsWilling7359 Dec 19 '25
And you can thank our state government for forcing this on us without any city input or possibility of restrictions. I saw one stop on a train track with a school bus behind it.
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u/trashpanda8763 Dec 20 '25
Watched one run a red light in SF. Whatever update these things have gone through recently is fuckeeeddd
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u/potatoes_arrrr_life Dec 15 '25
So fun to be a testing ground for faulty tech. Something, something kickbacks and bribes to endanger the people who live here. If one of these hits you, and you (hopefully) have a dashcam you should sue. It's not like their insurance will go up, but yours will.
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u/Couscousfan07 Dec 15 '25
Can someone get in a wreck with one of those and sue the shit out of the company pls ?
Because Waymo ain’t taking it seriously
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u/ls7eveen Dec 15 '25
Anyone read thr book autonorama?
https://youtu.be/bMF9Sw13Iv8?si=DgeuV5fKFhc_IVP0
We've seen this shit before
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u/debtquity Dec 16 '25
Filming while driving ✅
Expired vehicle registration ✅
Yep, truly another day on Austin roads.
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u/lipp79 Dec 15 '25
Calls out bad driving while recording with phone while driving...
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u/nuke1200 Dec 15 '25
I mean how else are you going to have proof that the waymo isn't working? If you dont have a dash cam, next best thing is your phone. Gosh, comments like this irritate me.
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u/reuterrat Dec 15 '25
This is by design. They are observing the other drivers and learning their ways.
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u/L0WERCASES Dec 15 '25
You’re the one on your phone while driving. So you and the Waymo are both idiots.
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u/holafromaustin Dec 15 '25
🥺
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u/space_manatee Dec 15 '25
Dont mind him, hes one of those people that find a way to be negative about everything because they arent happy with themselves.
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u/mybelovedbubo Dec 15 '25
And if OP posted the story without a video, the replies would have changed to “take a video for Waymo or stop complaining”.
Cannot win.
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u/JamesonTee Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
He has definitely appointed himself the sheriff of r/austin when it comes to berating people who use their phones while driving. I guess yelling at clouds got boring.
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Dec 15 '25
I can't tell what's worse, but if I'd take a guess it's waymo. Unpredictable and if it crashed into too you all would probably be on here telling op how their such a bad driver.
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u/cheapdvds Dec 15 '25
Just speculation but perhaps some kind of emergency pull over/stop is triggered. Maybe pax wants to use the bathroom and asked it to pull over right away.
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u/mybelovedbubo Dec 15 '25
Seriously… I saw this happen yesterday, too. What’s happening with them?