THIS is the shocking moment a self-driving taxi drives through the middle of a police standoff.
The driverless car – with passengers inside – is oblivious to the slew of armed police blocking an intersection in downtown Los Angeles.
A high risk felony arrest was taking place, with a man lying face down on the road outside his vehicle and cops pointing guns at him.
Police said they had been pursuing the suspect in a stolen vehicle and had not yet blocked off traffic when the Waymo approached the stand off.
Cops can be heard shouting for the driverless car to move out of the way, but the Waymo makes a left hand turn into the intersection in the line of fire.
Despite the array of blue and red flashing lights the robot taxi drives past and appears to make it safely past the police commotion.
People filming the incident in a different vehicle exclaim: “What the f*** is that Waymo doing?”.
A Waymo spokesperson told ABC News the taxi came across a street blocked by police vehicles early Friday before turning into an area that was not blocked off where other vehicles were also traveling.
Waymo said the vehicle was in the vicinity of the event for “no more than 15 seconds.”
“Safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets. When we encounter unusual events like this one, we learn from them as we continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities,” the spokesperson said.
The incident did not impact the LAPD’s tactics, police said. The LAPD also said it has a 24/7 hotline for coordinating issues with Waymo.
Waymo began operating its driverless taxis in Los Angeles early last year and opened its service to everyone in November 2024.
Recent months have brought more serious issues to light for Waymo, highlighted by California’s difficulties with ticketing AVs that break road rules and a new law coming to rectify this issue.
It comes amid the controversial plan for the Google-owned Waymo to bring its fleet of self-driving robo taxis to London next year.
The taxi company has confirmed its futuristic fleet is already on its way to the capital, making London the first European city to welcome the cars.
Waymo’s self-driving rides have become a common sight in San Francisco and Phoenix, and recently hit the streets of Tokyo.
Now, the firm is hoping to add the home of the black cab to its growing global list.
Hitting London’s streets soon
The company says its cars will appear in London “in the coming weeks” for initial testing, though there’ll still be “safety drivers” behind the wheel at first.
Fully driverless trips could launch as soon as 2026, once the Department for Transport and Transport for London give the green light.
A spokesperson for Waymo told Sky News: “We provide hundreds of thousands of rides every week in the US and have given over 10 million fully autonomous rides to the public.
“That growth reflects real appreciation, love and trust in the service. We’re excited to introduce the reliability, safety and magic of Waymo to Londoners soon.”
The UK government has already backed the push toward autonomous vehicles, announcing earlier this year that pilot schemes will begin on British streets by spring 2026.
According to the Department for Transportthe UK cybercar industry could be worth £42billion and create 38,000 jobs by 2035.