Are Waymos Driving More Like Humans?

What It Covers

Waymo autonomous vehicles in San Francisco are being programmed to drive more assertively through regular software updates, shifting from overly cautious behavior to more human-like driving patterns including faster stops, lane changes, and confident navigation at intersections.

Key Questions Answered

• •Scaling Strategy Through Assertiveness: Waymo deliberately updates software to make autonomous vehicles more confidently assertive because excessive passivity disrupts traffic flow in busy cities. This represents a strategic shift from prioritizing extreme caution to balancing safety with practical traffic integration as the company scales operations.
• •Safety Performance Data: Waymo vehicles have logged 100 million driverless miles across major cities and demonstrate 91 percent fewer crashes involving serious injury or worse compared to human drivers. This safety record provides the foundation for the company to increase assertiveness while maintaining lower accident rates than traditional vehicles.
• •Observable Behavior Changes: Drivers report Waymo vehicles now execute California rolling stops, switch lanes in tunnels, proceed through four-way stops without excessive deference, and start moving before pedestrians fully exit crosswalks. These behaviors mirror common human driving patterns that previously distinguished autonomous vehicles as overly mechanical and slow.
• •Enforcement Challenges: Law enforcement pulled over a Waymo for an illegal U-turn but cannot yet issue tickets to driverless vehicles. Remote operators apologize through speakers when stopped, highlighting the regulatory gap as autonomous vehicles adopt more aggressive driving that occasionally violates traffic laws without current accountability mechanisms.