San Bruno Waymo driverless taxi stops after illegal U-turn, no driver

San Bruno, California police pulled over a Waymo driverless taxi on Friday evening after officers observed the vehicle make an illegal U-turn during a grant-funded DUI enforcement operation, only to find no one behind the wheel. Officers stopped the white Jaguar I-Pace near the city's Caltrain station, checked the vehicle and contacted the company operating the autonomous system, the San Bruno Police Department said.

The department posted on social media, "No driver, no hands, no clue," noting that because no human was present the officers could not issue a conventional traffic citation. "Our citation books do not have a box for robot," the department wrote. Officers reported the maneuver to Waymo's operations team so the company could investigate and, if necessary, adjust its software.

Waymo issued a brief statement saying its autonomous driving software is designed to follow traffic laws and that the company is looking into the incident. "We are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience," the company added.

Driverless taxis like those operated by Waymo use external cameras, sensors and detailed onboard maps to navigate urban streets. The...