Waymo’s self-driving taxi in Austin just pulled the ultimate “close enough” move:
Sees flashing railroad lights → stops past the gate → but still 8 feet from the actual tracks. Metro train blasts by inches away like “bro you good?”
Car: “Yeah I’m within parameters, chill.”
No passengers (thank God), no crash… just pure passive-aggressive robot energy.
Waymo’s official response: “We’re temporarily banning our cars from certain crossings while we review.”
Translation: “We told it to stop at the gate… it heard ‘stop near the gate… ish.’”
This comes right after another Waymo blocked emergency crews during a shooting response. So now the robotaxis are 0-for-2 on “don’t make life harder for first responders” week.
Austin locals watching the clips: “Great, first the train almost turns it into modern art, now it’s cosplaying as a roadblock. What’s next — it parallel parks in the fire lane during a 5-alarm blaze?”
Meanwhile human Uber drivers: “Y’all laughed at us for missing turns… at least we know what a railroad crossing means.”
Who’s ready for Waymo to get its own “learning moment” timeout corner?
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