What happens when cops pull over driverless car as footage shows Waymo forced to stop by police

A self-driving taxi was pulled over by police but of course, there was no one in the driver’s seat to hand out a ticket to.

So, what happens when the cops pull over a driverless car? Footage has captured the moment a Waymo was forced to stop by police.

In a video uploaded to TikTok, the vehicle can be seen being pulled over in Los Angeles.

In the caption, it read: “G-Wagon owner smacks a #Waymo for causing traffic on Rodeo Drive, then #BHPD pulls it over. Does the cop just drop the ticket in the front seat?”

During the clip, a driver of a G-Wagon can be seen getting out of his vehicle to hit the back of the Waymo, later the self-driving car makes a wrong turn in front of the authorities.

As a result, the car got pulled over by the police but it has left a lot of people on social media with questions.

Taking to the TikTok comment section, one user wrote: “What even happens in this situation. Who does the cop talk to and how? Do they just write a ticket and send it to Google?”

Another said: “License and registration………….. Who gets the ticket or fine?”

A third person commented: “I wish I would have seen this live, I'd be dying laughing too.”

And a fourth added: “No one’s in there but cops talk to the representatives. I’ve seen a few Waymo’s be pulled over now.”

Are driverless taxis the future of car services?

Waymo was first founded in 2009 but it didn’t go driverless until October 2020 and it looks like other companies could be following suit.

Last year, Elon Musk unveiled the new Tesla Cybercab which he hopes will become a fleet of self-driving cabs in the future.

While the Cybercab might seem like a normal looking car at first, a closer look revealed that it has no rear window, pedals or steering wheel and it is a fully autonomous drive.

The car was first showcased by Musk in October 2024 at Tesla’s ‘We, Robot’ event, with the company having plans to get them on the roads as early as 2026.

It’s hoped that the car will be able to run as a taxi-service when its owner doesn’t need it and, in theory, the car could earn money working a night-shift while its owner is asleep.

I guess time will tell!