Driverless Waymo gets pulled over by police and it's captured on body cam

PHOENIX - This is something you probably didn't consider: self-driving Waymo cars can get pulled over by police.

In fact, it happened last month in Phoenix, and it was caught on body camera. 

It's not every day you see a Phoenix Police officer pulling over a driverless car. But, that's what happened on June 19 after the officer observed a Waymo going haywire in traffic.

"I couldn't help but come over here just out of morbid curiosity. I thought maybe there was a passenger," a passerby said to the officer.

The officer replies, "You know the construction here? It was going eastbound in the westbound lanes, which is real bad. So I light it up and it takes off in the intersection."

While most Waymo cars can be seen throughout the city driving safely and behaving civilly, erratic driving is not completely out of the question for artificial intelligence.

Phil Briggs was nearly sideswiped by a Waymo car in an unrelated incident.

"It was making a right onto Washington, almost hit me. I had to swerve into the fast lane," he said. "My son saw an accident, we've seen them dead in the water in the middle of the intersection. I don't see any good from it at all."

FOX 10 reached out to Waymo to learn more about the potential for errors while operating. 

In a statement, Waymo said, "Waymo cars are better drivers than humans and are three-and-a-half times more likely to avoid crashes."

In the case last month involving police, Waymo says the construction signage on 7th and Osborn Road was inconsistent, and because the officer blocked the car, it had to impede oncoming traffic. 

The whole ordeal only lasted a minute.

"If you or I were driving like that and we get pulled over, we get a ticket. So somebody needs to be held accountable," Briggs said.

Phoenix Police say they can cite Waymo, but it's not something they need to do often. Officers, though, are trained to deal with robot-operated cars.

"Waymo also makes it very easy for law enforcement to simply press the help button, and get connected immediately to a 24/7 service member that will be able to talk them through moving the vehicle off the road, finding the insurance information, and whatever information the officer needs for their investigation," Phoenix Police Sgt. Brian Bower said.

Waymo cars are also able to detect an emergency vehicle and are programed to safely pull over on the side of the road.

Phoenix is home to the largest autonomous service area in the U.S.