AI incident #1543 ·

Waymo Robotaxi Reportedly Obstructed Ambulance Responding to Austin Mass Shooting

What happened

During the response to a mass shooting on West Sixth Street in Austin, Texas, a Waymo robotaxi reportedly stopped across a street while traveling to pick up a passenger, briefly blocking an ambulance. Video reportedly showed the vehicle inching forward as police arrived; an officer contacted Waymo through its speaker system, after which the vehicle moved into a parking garage. Austin-Travis County EMS said the delay was resolved without significant effects on patient care or operations.

Only the incident metadata is stored here. The underlying news reports are on the AI Incident Database (CC BY-SA 4.0); use the links above to read them.

News reports (4)

Coverage catalogued by the AI Incident Database. Titles link to the original publisher; the text is not reproduced here.

Who was involved

Alleged harmed party
Road Users, Patients, Emergency Medical Responders, Emergency Medical Patients, Austin Travis County Ems

Classification (MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy)

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Causal entity
Intent
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Other incidents involving Waymo, Robotaxi Operators, Automated Driving System Deployers