The December 2025 blackout exposed a chilling vulnerability in Waymo’s self-driving fleet—stalling en masse and delaying fire trucks—highlighting broader dangers as robotaxis multiply on city streets
It was a chaotic Saturday afternoon in San Francisco on December 20, 2025. A fire erupted at a PG&E substation, plunging nearly one-third of the city—about 130,000 customers—into darkness. Traffic lights went black, streets turned into a maze of confusion, and residents braced for the worst.
But amid the flickering hazards and honking horns, something eerie unfolded: Dozens of Waymo robotaxis froze like statues at intersections. Hazard lights blinking helplessly, these driverless Jaguars became immovable obstacles, snarling traffic and—forcing fire trucks to swerve or detour. As Supervisor Bilal Mahmood later revealed, stalled Waymos delayed crews responding to the substation blaze and a separate fire in Chinatown.
Imagine the scene: Sirens wailing in the distance, flames licking the sky, and a fleet of cutting-edge autonomous vehicles—heralded as the future of safe, efficient transport—turning into multi-ton roadblocks. This wasn’t science fiction gone wrong; it was a real-world wake-up call about the hidden risks of self-driving cars in emergencies.
The Blackout Breakdown: How Waymo’s Fleet Failed Under Pressure
Waymo’s vehicles are programmed to treat dark traffic signals as four-way stops—a smart safeguard in normal conditions. But the scale of this outage overwhelmed the system.
A “concentrated spike” in requests for remote human confirmation flooded Waymo’s fleet response team, creating delays that left cars stationary longer than usual. Videos flooded social media: Robotaxis idling mid-intersection, blocking lanes, and contributing to gridlock as human drivers navigated around them.
The company suspended operations that evening, resuming only after power returned. But the damage was done—raising urgent questions: If a simple blackout can paralyze hundreds of AVs, what happens during a major earthquake, flood, or wildfire evacuation?
A Pattern of Peril: Past Incidents Where AVs Hindered Heroes
This wasn’t Waymo’s first brush with emergency interference—and it’s far from isolated in the AV world.
- Historical Headaches: Since launching in San Francisco, Waymos and rivals like Cruise have repeatedly blocked fire trucks, ambulances, and police. Reports include vehicles freezing near crash scenes, driving over fire hoses, or parking in front of stations.
- Fatal Delays: In 2023, Cruise robotaxis delayed an ambulance, contributing to a patient’s death. Fire departments have logged dozens of incidents where AVs forced detours on narrow streets.
- Recent Echoes: Just months before the blackout, viral clips showed Waymos in confusing standoffs or failing to yield properly.
Experts point to core limitations: AVs excel in predictable scenarios but struggle with “edge cases”—chaos like outages, construction, or human gestures from responders. Without a driver to wave through or reverse quickly, they default to caution… sometimes excessively.
The Bigger Picture: Why These Risks Could Escalate
As robotaxis proliferate—Waymo alone aims for millions of rides annually—the stakes rise dramatically.
1. Mass Paralysis in Disasters
Blackouts, earthquakes (San Francisco’s nightmare), or cyberattacks could trigger fleet-wide stalls, turning streets into obstacle courses for evacuations and rescues.
2. Over-Reliance on Remote Humans
Waymo’s teleoperation works for isolated issues but buckles under scale, as seen in December.
3. Lack of Intuitive Judgment
Humans communicate instinctively—eye contact, hand signals. Robots? They follow code, often prioritizing rigid safety over urgent yielding.
4. Regulatory Gaps
While Waymo promises software updates and better protocols, critics argue oversight lags deployment speed.
| Risk Factor | Example from 2025 Incident | Potential Future Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Power/Connectivity Failure | Fleet stalled at dark signals | Widespread gridlock in disasters |
| Remote Assistance Overload | Confirmation delays | Delayed emergency access |
| Inability to Yield Quickly | Blocked fire trucks | Life-threatening response times |
| Scaling Without Safeguards | Hundreds affected | City-wide paralysis |
Hope on the Horizon—or More Hype?
Waymo responded swiftly: Fleet-wide updates for “more decisive” navigation in outages, enhanced emergency protocols, and closer city coordination. They’ve trained thousands of first responders on interacting with AVs.
Yet skeptics wonder: Will fixes hold in true crises? As AVs expand to more cities, balancing innovation with public safety remains the ultimate test.
The December blackout wasn’t just a glitch—it was a glimpse into a future where our smartest machines might unintentionally endanger us most when we need help fastest.
What do you think: Are robotaxis ready for prime time, or do we need stricter safeguards? Share your thoughts below!
Published on www.vfuturemedia.com | December 29, 2025
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