Austin 6th Street shooting: Waymo invited to council meeting after self-driving car blocks road

AUSTIN, Texas - Five Austin City Council members are calling on Waymo to address concerns after one of its self-driving vehicles briefly obstructed an ambulance responding to a deadly mass shooting downtown earlier this month.

"Unacceptable" obstruction during emergency response

What we know:

In a letter sent to the company following the March 1 shooting on Sixth Street, council members addressed the video circulating online showing a Waymo vehicle blocking the road for first responders on Nueces Street as they rushed to the active shooter scene.

Reports indicate that it took approximately two minutes for a law enforcement officer to physically move the vehicle. Council members expressed that it was "unacceptable" that emergency personnel had to divert their attention during an active response to move an autonomous vehicle.

The letter was signed by Mayor Pro Tem José "Chito" Vela, Public Safety Committee Chair José Velásquez, Mobility Committee Chair Paige Ellis, Public Safety Committee Vice Chair Krista Laine and Mobility Committee Vice Chair Zohaib "Zo" Qadri.

The council members expressed that during emergency response situations, "every second matters," highlighting that first responders must be able to "move quickly and without additional obstacles." 

Austin City Council invites Waymo to Public Safety committee

What they're saying:

"As autonomous vehicle technology continues to operate on Austin’s streets, it is critical that these systems are able to fully recognize and respond appropriately to emergency situations and the presence of first responders," the letter states.

An invitation was extended to Waymo representatives to attend a joint meeting of the City Council’s Public Safety and Mobility committees on April 29 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to discuss the incident and identify steps to strengthen coordination between the company’s operations and Austin’s public safety agencies.

Waymo’s explanation

The backstory:

The letter follows a March 2 report that a Waymo vehicle was captured on video stopped sideways in the road as an ambulance approached the scene of the shooting with lights flashing. 

FOX 7 Austin reached out to Waymo for more information about the initial incident.

The company says that a rider had hailed the car for a pickup in the wake of the shooting and as the car approached the pick-up spot, it "identified a road blockage and began executing a U-turn."

"While the Waymo Driver operates in dense U.S. cities, smoothly navigating interactions with emergency vehicles (EVs) at all hours, we are dedicated to learning from this situation and how we show up for our community as we continue improving road safety in the cities we serve," said a Waymo representative in an email to FOX 7 Austin.

First responders on Waymo vehicle

Dig deeper:

Austin-Travis County EMS chief Robert Luckritz addressed the incident during a press conference with Austin police chief Lisa Davis on Monday.

Luckritz says that ATCEMS has already been in touch with Waymo to express their concerns about what happened and to work to try and address this going forward.