By Connor Graham and Neil T. O’Donnell

Waymo's Driverless Vehicle Problem in Atlanta

A small Atlanta neighborhood has begun to experience an early-morning nuisance: Scores of driverless vehicles, courtesy of Waymo - Google’s fleet of self-driving cars.

The traffic is problematic. It occurs between 6:00-7:00 a.m., and interferes with bussing for school children. Attempts by local residence to establish warning signs to stop this bizzare behavior resulted in the vehicles becoming stuck in a traffic jam, unable to turn around. Waymo announced that they are working to fix the vehicle routing. Normally, these vehicles are parked in company depots for their downtime. If not, they try to find on-street parking locations, for Waymos are only available in cities at the moment.

Could Autonomous Vehicle Behavior Create a Public Nuisance?

The strange behavior of these vehicles are obvious growing pains for the self-driving industry, but can potentially constitute as a nuisance. Almost two years ago, for example, Waymo cars woke San Francisco residents with incessant honking in the early morning. Nuisance of a public nature must involved a significant interference with general convenience or safety. Prolonged honking throughout many nights would be one such example. Clogging small town roads for prolonged stretches may also constitute such interference.

The Future of Self-Driving Car Litigation

As self-driving cars begin to spread throughout America, so too do such problems escalate. Given the amount of companies working on this technology, there may be a lot of avenues for litigation in the near future. Hopefully, for the public’s sake, the issues are settled in reasonable time.