San Francisco’s recent power outage exposed a glaring weakness in Waymo’s driverless robotaxi technology, leaving autonomous vehicles stranded in traffic while proving these machines aren’t ready to replace human judgment on American streets.
Story Overview
- Waymo suspended robotaxi service after vehicles stalled during widespread San Francisco blackouts affecting 130,000 customers
- Multiple autonomous vehicles stopped mid-street, unable to navigate non-functioning traffic signals despite being designed for such scenarios
- Tesla’s human-supervised service remained operational, highlighting the continued need for human oversight in transportation
- MIT researcher warns cities aren’t ready for fully autonomous vehicle deployment, calling for regulatory limits on their street penetration
Autonomous Technology Fails During Crisis
Waymo’s driverless robotaxis ground to a halt Saturday evening when a Pacific Gas and Electric substation fire knocked out power across San Francisco, affecting 130,000 customers. Videos circulated on social media showing multiple Waymo vehicles stopped dead in traffic, with resident Matt Schoolfield witnessing at least three autonomous cars “just stopping in the middle of the street” between 6 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. The widespread malfunction forced Waymo to suspend its service entirely, raising serious questions about the reliability of fully autonomous systems during predictable infrastructure failures.
Bad look for Waymo. Lots of reports out of SF where the power outage caused its robotaxis to stop in traffic, causing jams.
On the other side, the Tesla robotaxi fleet (& personal FSD users) continued the service without hiccups.
Not clear if Waymo vehicles themselves are… pic.twitter.com/DexuAh0Bpt
— Jaan of the EVwire.com ⚡ (@TheEVuniverse) December 21, 2025
Human Oversight Proves Superior
While Waymo’s driverless fleet failed spectacularly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk highlighted that “Tesla Robotaxis were unaffected by the SF power outage.” The key difference lies in Tesla’s approach: their vehicles require human drivers at all times, using “FSD (Supervised)” technology that maintains human oversight. California regulators have not granted Tesla permits for fully driverless operations, meaning their vehicles always have human safety supervisors ready to take control. This human-machine partnership proved its worth when technological systems couldn’t handle real-world chaos.
Technology Exposes Regulatory Gaps
Bryan Reimer, an MIT transportation researcher, warned that Saturday’s failures prove “cities are not yet ready for highly automated vehicles to inundate their streets.” He emphasized that power outages are “entirely predictable” events, making Waymo’s inability to handle them a serious design flaw. Reimer advocates for limiting the maximum number of autonomous vehicles allowed on regional streets and holding AV developers accountable for “chaos gridlock” just like human drivers. This incident demonstrates why rushed deployment of unproven technology threatens public safety and efficient transportation.
Public Skepticism Validated
The San Francisco debacle validates widespread American concerns about autonomous vehicles, with a recent American Automobile Association survey showing two-thirds of U.S. drivers fear self-driving cars. Waymo spokesperson Suzanne Philion admitted their vehicles “remained stationary longer than usual to confirm the state of affected intersections,” contributing to traffic gridlock across the city. While Waymo eventually coordinated with city officials to safely return vehicles to depots, the damage was done. This failure reinforces the wisdom of maintaining human control over transportation systems that millions of Americans depend on daily.
