[Interview] Waymo’s Split-Second Save

On December 11, Jesse and his partner were in a ride-share on their way home from a date night in downtown Austin. As they travelled near the college campus, a young woman rode an electric scooter in a narrow, patchwork bike lane ahead of them.

The driver trailed the scooter at a safe distance. However, as soon as the car began to pass, the woman lost her balance and tumbled dramatically into the road. The scenario was textbook.

Fortunately, it was the Waymo Driver behind the wheel.

A video of the incident went viral after it was posted by one of Waymo’s Co-CEOs, Dmitri Dolgov:

We recently began serving riders in Austin, and it’s great to see the safety benefits of the @Waymo Driver already playing out for both our riders and other road users. pic.twitter.com/Nr7Qaw0yym

— Dmitri Dolgov (@dmitri_dolgov) December 16, 2024

A day later I had the chance to speak with Jesse at a bar, one block from where the incident took place. I wanted to ask him what it was like to ride in an autonomous rally car– albeit momentarily.

“Were you paying attention at the time of the incident, or were you dozing off in the back like I do?”

“I was definitely paying attention to the road because it was so chaotic – it’s probably one of the hardest streets to drive in the city. There’s pedestrians everywhere and the road is really narrow.

The road in question is Guadalupe Street. Near the University of Texas campus, drivers find themselves travelling 35 mph on a road packed with shops and students.

“There’s a bike lane that appears, disappears, and reappears again. [The incident] happened as soon as the bike lane re-appeared and we started to pass.”

“What was your reaction?”

“My partner was looking down at her phone, and I just started screaming! I thought I was going to see someone die, so I was like, ‘AHHHHHHHHHHH’!”

“You could’ve shut the whole program down right there!”

“Right?”

It’s also worth noting that this was Jesse’s first ride with Waymo. While he had previous experience with Cruise, he noted, “The Waymo was a way better driver.” Not surprising.

After the incident, Jesse shared his experience on Reddit. The story was met mostly with positivity, though some expressed skepticism as to whether the scooter rider would’ve been in danger with a human behind the wheel.

“Do you think a human could have performed the same maneuver?”

“I don’t think so! It’s not guaranteed that she would’ve lived if it was a human driver. Everyone who lives thinks they are a great driver – everyone thinks they are the exception.

“It was really a split-second thing.”

We both agreed: perhaps a human could have pulled it off. However, change one variable, and it’s easy to imagine an alternate reality. What if the driver had been 15 mph over the speed limit? What if it was a truck instead of a car? What if the woman had fallen further into the road?

“[It’s also important] that it chose a pretty safe way to drive. We were following behind the scooter rider, maintaining a safe distance the whole time. That part wasn’t in the video.”

What the video also failed to capture, we discussed, was how violent the car’s reaction felt as a passenger.

“It always looks slower in the dashcam footage than it feels like when you’re in the car. I have a dashcam too. Whenever you review the footage later you think, ‘it’s not that scary, right’?”

Finally, I had a chance to ask Jesse how he feels about the future of autonomous cars in Austin.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about public transit. I’m into urban design and infrastructure. I think a lot about where self-driving cars fit into a city. Trains are best, public transit is best, and bikes are really good.

“I wouldn’t want self-driving cars to replace those things, but they are definitely an incremental improvement. I think they’re great.”

Jesse’s only regret is not capturing the video for himself – to share with friends, as well as capture some of the momentum the clip gained online. As a consolation prize:

“How does it feel knowing your ride is probably a permanent part of their training data?”

“It feels cool!”

This guest article was written by George Black, who was kind enough to reach out to Autonomy Central to provide this increidble interview. Please go and give him a follow over on Bluesky!