Self-driving cars are supposed to make our roads safer, but it seems that they are doing the opposite. NHTSA administrator Jonathan Morrison sent a letter to autonomous vehicle developers this week, and he didn’t hold back. He called the pattern of driverless cars getting in the way of first responders “unacceptable,” and said a car that can’t safely handle an emergency scene is a danger to everyone around it.
What’s actually going wrong?
According to Morrison, NHTSA has tracked a clear pattern of AVs driving straight into active emergency scenes, blocking ambulances and fire trucks, and failing to respond properly to flashing lights, fire, or traffic cones. This isn’t new information either. According to a Wired report, city officials had already flagged these issues to NHTSA in a closed-door meeting.
A San Francisco fire chief said Waymo vehicles were frequently blocking fire stations, while an Austin police official admitted the tech was rolled out too fast, in too many cars, before it was actually ready.
It gets worse. Austin first responders also described a Waymo blocking an ambulance for two full minutes during a response to a mass shooting downtown. That’s a genuine safety risk that can result in lives lost.
What happens now?
Morrison wants AV manufacturers to drop everything and focus on fixing this, and NHTSA plans to meet with every affected company by the end of July to talk solutions. He also made it clear that enforcement action is still on the table if companies don’t get their act together.
Interestingly, this warning comes right after the Trump administration eased rules that make it simpler for robotaxi makers like Tesla to put vehicles without steering wheels or mirrors on the road. So while the door is opening wider for AVs, the pressure to prove they can actually behave safely is rising just as fast.