July 6, 2026 - Waymo Has Tough Holiday Weekend

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for July 6, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry. 

The weekend that just passed marked the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the formation of the United States. As usual, on the 4th of July, there were celebrations across the country that usually culminate with the launching of fireworks. While many people enjoy these displays, dogs and Waymo robotaxis did not have a good time, particularly in San Francisco, for the automated vehicles. 

At least two different Waymo vehicles were involved in incidents where they drove over fireworks that were ignited in the middle of the street. While this was idiotic behavior on the part of whoever lit the fireworks in the road, the Waymo system did not handle the situation properly. In one of the incidents, a rider in the vehicle recorded the person lighting the fireworks, and then the vehicle running over it. No one was injured, and according to Waymo, there was no damage to the vehicle. In the other incident, an unoccupied Waymo did catch fire and became stranded and ultimately had to be towed away. 

The other major issue involved several Waymo vehicles getting stuck in traffic congestion due to people watching the municipal fireworks display launched from the Golden Gate Bridge. One of the challenges with these types of automated vehicles is the significant energy consumption from the sensors and computers on board. A typical EV uses very little energy while sitting still, much less than a gasoline vehicle. But an AV could be consuming 1-3 kW continuously, and several Waymos apparently drained their batteries while stuck in traffic, ultimately making the congestion worse. These vehicles needed to be towed. 

These issues point to the continuing operational challenges of running robotaxis. The fireworks are a prime example of so-called edge cases, incidents that are absolutely possible but very uncommon. A human driver would recognize that a person was walking into the middle of the road on the 4th of July, reaching down to light something and then probably avoid driving toward it or over it.  Waymo also clearly needs better coordination on traffic information and local events that could cause disruptions with service, and then make sure that vehicles with a low state of charge don't get sent into those areas until they have been fully charged. They probably also need to look at their power management systems to determine how they can reduce consumption when vehicles are stuck in traffic. 

Thanks for listening.