Shocking footage has emerged showing the moment a 'driverless' Waymo taxi ploughed into a stabbing crime scene in North West London. The incident occurred on Harlesden High Street after two men in their 20s were stabbed at 6.25pm on Wednesday, April 22. A police cordon was put in place as emergency services responded to the double stabbing.
Later that same evening, a white Waymo vehicle, designed to operate autonomously, sped towards the cordon. The brakes slammed on as the car made contact with the emergency tape. Two Metropolitan Police officers were seen having a short conversation with the 'driver' before the car reversed and drove off.
Waymo has since confirmed that the vehicle was being manually driven at the time of the incident. In a statement to the Daily Mail, the company said the driver has been suspended pending further investigation. Waymo's initial analysis suggests that if the car had been in automated mode, it would have identified the danger and stopped safely.
A Waymo spokesperson added: "We sincerely apologise for any disruption caused by this validation driver, who was operating the vehicle in manual mode. We take this matter seriously and are working with our operations partner to ensure appropriate actions are taken."
Waymo's self-driving cars have been mapping the streets of London since last autumn, but until recently they have been under the manual control of 'safety drivers'. Earlier this month, Waymo told Sky News that some of the cars are now being controlled by artificial intelligence, with a human sitting in the driver's seat ready to intervene if necessary.
Police and paramedics had scrambled to Harlesden's main road on the evening of April 22 following the stabbing. Harlesden High Street was shut throughout Wednesday evening and Thursday due to the incident. Both victims were rushed to hospital, but the Metropolitan Police has yet to provide an update on their condition. No arrests have been made so far in connection with the stabbing.
