Dozens of Waymos stalled again on the streets of San Francisco [video]. Passengers, including children, were trapped inside.

A few dozen Waymo autonomous taxis suddenly stopped on several streets in San Francisco (United States), effectively blocking traffic for several hours. The vehicles were unable to move away either on their own or with the help of remote operators, who reportedly could not be detected at all. People had to push the cars by hand, with about twenty of them being towed away.

Jam traffic caused by stupid autonomy – our impending reality?

Reports indicate that the vehicle immobilization was targeted and affected the Presidio area (Spanish for prison), the northern part of San Francisco, including the vicinity of the Palace of Fine Arts. Cars were stuck for 2 to 4 hours, with some passengers still inside. Drivers trapped in the traffic jams claimed there were issues with cell phone coverage in the area, although others (who were trapped) reportedly sent reports to the media asking for attention to the situation. Some cars had their lights turned off, and emergency lights or one of the turn signals could also be seen:

.@Telemundo48 @sfchronicle @Univision here is another video from last night’s @Waymo Armageddon.

Video credits: @facebook user Dave Guingona ! What is your take on this @elonmusk @Tesla ? pic.twitter.com/S5VpxuAjXE

— Marco Gutierrez (@MarcoGutierrez) July 6, 2026

A similar problem occurred with Waymo’s autonomous taxis in December 2025. At that time, a power outage disabled traffic lights, causing the vehicles to request support from a human driver remotely and overloading the system with numerous calls. There were not enough people available. If reports of poor internet service in areas affected by traffic jams the day before are any indication, a similar situation might have arisen here: something (such as people returning from an event) blocked the cars, which were unable to resolve the issue quickly, overwhelming the local cellular network with attempts to connect to the headquarters. Thankfully, it didn’t end up like in Lem’s “Ananke.”

Not a good look expanding before testing edge cases are solved!! https://t.co/TMhvq3oHZO

— Meta4 (@a_meta4) July 5, 2026

The problem on the streets was resolved after a few hours, with cars being pushed by hand or removed using tow trucks (video and illustration above). At the nearby parking lot—the only one in the area that allowed viewing of the fireworks display—empty Waymo cars circled for 5 hours, taking and releasing occupied spots alternately (source; photo below). Even the police didn’t know how to deal with such behavior. Some claim this is an extreme case, but Waymo itself advertised two days before American Independence Day that it would facilitate returns from the event... (video below):

Because after a night out, getting home should be the easiest part. pic.twitter.com/YuGpl4ch7K

— Waymo (@Waymo) July 2, 2026

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