Waymo’s Growing Pains

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Self-driving car companies like Waymo say their autonomous vehicles are dramatically safer than human drivers. But a new CNN investigation found that when things do go wrong, they tend to go wrong in decidedly un-human ways: being incapable of responding to instructions from first responders, driving through crime scenes, and even attempting to traverse entirely flooded streets. As Waymo expands into new markets nationwide, we’ll examine these safety issues — and hear why a lot of passengers love self-driving cars anyway. Guests: Yahya Abou-Ghazala, reporter and producer, CNN's investigative unit Rya Jetha, senior reporter covering physical AI and robotics, Business Insider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from Stanford Continuing Studies,
0:05.4	offering over 100 online and on-campus courses this summer.
0:09.6	Explore topics from AI to art history, languages to leadership, and more.
0:15.1	Continuing Studies.standford.edu.
0:19.8	This summer, switch to Xfinity and get Wi-Fi so reliable you can host the world.
0:25.1	And now, you can lock in your price for five years, guaranteed.
0:28.7	Xfinity, imagine that.
0:30.7	Restrictions apply, select plans only.
0:34.5	From KQED.
0:37.0	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
0:39.2	As Moro Buemo's driverless taxis are being deployed in California and other states,
0:43.5	new unexpected problems are cropping up, according to a CNN investigation,
0:47.5	driving into crime scenes or construction zones and flooded roads
0:51.1	because their sensors cannot detect water depth.
0:54.4	Last month, the companies suspended all freeway rides over safety concerns.
0:58.7	This hour, we'll look at the new set of issues the new technology is creating
1:02.6	and why passengers seem to like the robotaxies anyway.
1:06.9	Listeners, have you noticed any unusual behavior from a Waymo or other self-driving car?
1:12.1	Do you use them anyway?
1:13.8	Joining me is Yahya Abu Ghazala, a reporter-producer with CNN's investigative unit based in Washington, D.C.
1:20.8	He co-authored the investigation, Driving Like Teenagers, Waymo Robotaxies, have run red lights and nearly hit pedestrians.
1:29.2	Yaha, thanks so much for being with us.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 25 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.