California police accuse Waymo of illegal turn but can't issue driverless car a ticket

(KRON) — A Northern California police department was patrolling city streets during a late-night DUI enforcement operation over the weekend when they pulled over a white Jaguar SUV after a traffic violation.

But the interaction was complicated by the fact there was no driver to hand a physical ticket to.

The car that was pulled over was a driverless Waymo vehicle, which San Bruno police said made an illegal U-turn.

The department contacted the autonomous vehicle company to inform them about the "glitch." This was the first time the responding officers pulled over a Waymo, the department said.

"Since there was no human driver, a ticket couldn’t be issued (our citation books don’t have a box for 'robot'). Hopefully the reprogramming will keep it from making any more illegal moves," SBPD wrote on social media.

According to San Bruno police, there is no law that allows officers to issue citations to autonomous vehicle companies when their vehicles violate traffic laws.

SBPD said legislation is "in the works" for officers to issue these types of citations.

"For those who believe that we are being lenient, there is legislation in the works that will allow officers to issue the company notices," San Bruno police said. "Whether it’s drivers, passengers, or even driverless cars, we’ll continue to do our part to keep San Bruno’s streets safe."