Overnight patrols are rolling through residential blocks in Commerce, California, after residents complained that Waymo self-driving cars have been showing up in their neighborhoods more often, parking on their streets and cutting through at odd hours. City officials say the robotaxis are conducting training runs in the area, and while Commerce can't legally stop them, it's leaning on what authority it does have.
Residents Push Back on Growing Robotaxi Presence
The uptick in complaints prompted the city to increase overnight patrols in residential neighborhoods, according to KTLA. Commerce addressed the issue in a statement shared on Instagram, acknowledging that autonomous vehicles frequently travel through and park in residential areas and telling residents that their safety and well-being remain the city's top priorities. The city said the vehicles are conducting training in Commerce, though officials did not specify how many Waymo cars are operating locally or how long that training is expected to last.
Commerce's Public Safety Division, which increased the overnight patrols, relies on Community Safety Officers who patrol the city, direct traffic and enforce parking, among other duties, according to the City of Commerce. Officials are communicating directly with Waymo about its activity in the city, and are monitoring the vehicles while documenting where and when they're parked. The city did not indicate whether any Waymo vehicles have already been cited or towed.
City Says Its Hands Are Tied on Enforcement
Commerce has encouraged residents who witness unsafe driving or illegal parking to report it directly to the Public Safety Division, the same report notes. Officials warned that illegally parked vehicles could be ticketed or towed, since Waymo cars are subject to the same traffic and parking laws as any other vehicle on the road. Under state law, a vehicle cannot be stopped, parked or left standing in specified prohibited locations, whether attended or unattended, per the California Legislative Information site's text of Vehicle Code section 22500.
Still, the city says it has limited ability to regulate autonomous vehicles outright. Commerce cannot prohibit state-authorized Waymo vehicles from operating on its public streets, since autonomous vehicles are regulated at the state level by the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission. Despite that limited authority, the city says it is taking steps to address residents' concerns and will continue working with Waymo and monitoring its activity.
Not Just Commerce — Similar Complaints Across California
Commerce isn't alone in grappling with robotaxi growing pains. In Westchester, residents described parked Waymos lining curbs, sometimes late into the night, with one neighbor estimating the cars showed up near his home anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen times a day, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Waymo has said it parks vehicles between trips to reduce congestion and conserve energy while giving riders faster access to rides.
Up north in San Bruno, neighbors told NBC Bay Area that Waymos have been stalling or parking in their neighborhood for extended periods, blocking driveways. One resident counted 29 Waymos in the area on a Sunday, while neighbors counted just five on the Thursday that followed, and San Bruno police confirmed officers had been called to the neighborhood twice over Waymo-related issues. City officials there said they're in touch with Waymo to discuss possible solutions.
Elsewhere in Los Angeles, dozens of Waymo cars reportedly blocked traffic near Bixel and 8th streets downtown while apparently trying to return to a charging facility, as reported by FOX 11 Los Angeles. And near Bell Gardens High School, residents described seeing Waymo vehicles circling the neighborhood repeatedly for roughly two weeks, according to a report from Yahoo News.
Crashes Climb Even as Crash Rate Drops
The complaints come as Waymo's footprint — and its reported incident count — keeps growing across Los Angeles County. The company reported 219 crashes countywide in 2025, up from 69 in 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times. More than 80% of the crashes reported in the county this year resulted in no apparent injuries, the paper found, and Waymo's reported crash rate has actually fallen sharply, from about 57 crashes per million miles driven in 2023 to fewer than six crashes per million miles this year.
State regulators have also been tightening oversight of the industry. Updated autonomous-vehicle regulations from the California Department of Motor Vehicles expand collision reporting requirements and authorize the DMV to impose targeted operational restrictions on manufacturers, including limits on fleet size, location, speed and weather conditions. Beginning July 1, law enforcement agencies statewide can issue notices of autonomous-vehicle noncompliance when a driverless car fails to obey traffic laws, giving the DMV a formal trigger to investigate and potentially require remediation.
For now, Commerce residents are left watching the same streets where Waymo vehicles keep turning up, while the city tries to thread the needle between limited local authority and genuine neighborhood frustration. Officials say they'll keep documenting the vehicles' movements and working with Waymo, even as the broader questions about fleet size and how long the training will continue remain unanswered.
