A driverless Waymo tried to slip past a California Highway Patrol traffic break on northbound I-280 on Friday, forcing an officer to swerve a patrol car in front of it before the robotaxi backed off and fell in line with the rest of traffic. The moment was caught on video by two passengers riding in the first row of cars behind the blockade, and the clip has since racked up more than 3.3 million views.
The footage shows CHP patrol cars attempting to hold traffic back while the Waymo tries to maneuver around them, according to NBC Bay Area. CHP had initiated the traffic break to clear debris from the road, and when the robotaxi kept pushing forward, an officer swerved to cut it off. CHP later confirmed to the station that multiple officers used their cruisers to block the Waymo's path, and that the vehicle ultimately complied and stayed back with the rest of traffic.
AJ, one of the two friends who recorded the video, told the outlet she and Holly filmed because they were sitting in the first row of cars behind the blockade and wanted to catch anything interesting that happened. Reporting on the incident has diverged on how CHP responded publicly: while NBC Bay Area reported that CHP confirmed officers blocked the vehicle and that it complied, an earlier account from SFist said CHP had not commented on the incident and that no further details were available.
Where It Happened and What Remains Unclear
The apparent traffic break took place on I-280 near Ocean Avenue, close to City College of San Francisco, according to KRON4. CHP told NBC Bay Area it had no communication with Waymo about the incident, and it remains unknown whether a passenger was inside the vehicle at the time. Waymo had not responded to the station's requests for comment on the video as of its report, though the company has previously said it works with first responders to improve how its vehicles handle traffic hazards and noted it maintains remote-assistance and emergency-response teams that can respond rapidly.
AJ offered her own take on what she witnessed, telling the station that being stuck in an autonomous car that is breaking the law or driving into danger without recourse is a nightmare scenario. Still, she said she doesn't see the episode as reason to reopen the broader debate over driverless vehicles, calling it a bump in the road rather than a dealbreaker, while adding that Waymo will need to keep making adjustments since its technology remains a work in progress.
Part of a Longer Pattern of Roadway Hiccups
This isn't the first time Waymo's robotaxis have faced questions about how they respond to unexpected road conditions. During a major San Francisco power outage in 2025, the city fielded multiple complaints about driverless cars freezing in intersections, and after this year's Fourth of July fireworks, officials raised concerns about Waymo vehicles blocking city streets as crowds tried to leave the area. A separate NBC Bay Area report on the fireworks aftermath found that extreme congestion disrupted operations for several Waymo vehicles, with crews working alongside city officials to clear them from the area.
Federal regulators have also been scrutinizing the company's software. NHTSA said a majority of reported incidents of Waymo robotaxis illegally passing stopped school buses occurred even after the company deployed a software update meant to fix the problem, according to TechCrunch. That federal investigation opened in October 2025 after footage showed a Waymo maneuvering around a stopped school bus in Atlanta, and Austin Independent School District officials separately reported at least five similar incidents. The outlet has also documented at least six emergency situations elsewhere in which first responders had to physically take control of Waymo vehicles to move them out of traffic, including one case near Redwood City where a robotaxi tried to pass stopped traffic on the shoulder before reversing away from wrong-way vehicles.
Parking enforcement has become its own flashpoint for the company in San Francisco. Citing data obtained by Gazetteer SF, SFist reported that Waymo racked up 4,178 parking citations in the city in 2025 and another 4,131 through July 19 of the following year, with fines totaling $957,008 between January 2025 and July 17, 2026. Whether Friday's freeway encounter leads to any citation or other consequence has not been established.
