Jul 28, 2026
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Add us on GoogleAlphabet’s expansion into self-driving cars is costing the company more money than it expected for reasons that have nothing to do with manufacturing or research and development.
Waymo, which shares a parent company with Google, is proving to be a bit too human in its driving patterns — and is running up a remarkable string of tickets in the process. In Austin, Texas alone, the company has already paid $7,433 in fines and has another $1,892 in violations that still haven’t been settled.
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The fines range from just $20 to more than $500 (for parking in a spot reserved for people with disabilities). In general, the tickets center around where the robotaxis spend their downtime.
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Waymo cars, when they’re not working, tend to take one of two actions. Some go to an operations depot in Austin that’s managed by Uber, where they can recharge and be cleaned. Most, however, hang out in a public parking space, waiting for someone to electronically hail them.
That reduces the number of cars on the road and lowers costs for the company. But the cars aren’t always able to detect restricted areas. The company has received 64 fines for parking in a tow-away zone, 13 for not paying for a metered spot, and nine tickets for double parking. Other violations include blocking an active railroad track and blocking a church entrance.
No special treatment
Waymo began offering driverless public ride services in Austin last March. The company is the national leader in self-driving car services, with more than 200,000 paid trips weekly as of last year. Beyond Austin, Waymo offers service in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Nashville and San Antonio.
The company says it does not receive any special favors when it comes to tickets.
“We do not expect different treatment [in regard] to ticketing,” a Waymo spokesman told The Wall Street Journal.
That doesn’t mean it pays them all. The company reviews all citations with the city and said it “may engage with the court to address and resolve them, including contesting cases on their merit if we believe they were issued erroneously.”
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Robot vs. human
Despite the incidents, Waymo still touts the benefits of its vehicles, claiming the cars are 10 times safer than those driven by humans. The company claims an over 94% reduction in reported serious crashes (with an injury or worse) compared to a human driver on the same route
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This data set is small: For example, there were 47 fewer serious crashes with Waymos than with comparable human drivers.
In addition, it claims, early results show a 93% reduction in pedestrian crashes with injuries, and 84% fewer crashes with injuries for bike riders or motorcyclists.
Human drivers, the company points out, were responsible for 42,514 deaths in the U.S. in 2022, and 2.5 million injuries.
Humans also got far more parking tickets than autonomous ride-share vehicles.
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
