A self-driving Waymo car blocked the street as first responders rushed to the scene of last week’s Oak Cliff apartment explosion, body camera footage shows. In the video, first obtained by FOX 4 Dallas and verified by KERA News, Dallas County Deputy Constable Jonathan Banda can be seen approaching the empty Waymo as it sits sideways in the street. He repeatedly tells the car to "go forward," even reaching into the car to grab the steering wheel before the car begins to connect to driver support. The car eventually connects to an assistant who begins speaking through the car's speakers. "You need to move this car ASAP, please," Banda said. "There's a fire around the corner, you need to move this car." "One second," the assistant responded. The car sits for more than 30 seconds before the assistant said the system seemed to be having an issue. Banda said he would manually move the car, but the assistant replied he needs the officer's agency and badge number first. "Come on, man, we need you to move it," Banda said before hopping in the car and pulling it out of the street. The entire interaction took about three-and-a-half minutes. Waymo told KERA in a statement "safety is fundamental to everything we do." "In this instance, the vehicle was in the process of completing a three-point turn to leave the area like other cars were doing. While the vehicle was yielding to other traffic passing by, the police officer approached the vehicle. While the officer was engaging with our vehicle and our remote assistance team, the street remained clear and other vehicles passed by unimpeded. We remain committed to working closely with Dallas law enforcement and first responders to ensure they have the tools, training, and information they need." A similar incident
Oak Cliff apartment explosion first responder was blocked by a Waymo self-driving <b>car</b>, video shows
Read the original article
keranews.org →