Waymo, the autonomous driving tech firm whose so-called ‘robo-taxis’ are now roaming the streets of London, has allegedly told cycling campaigners that expecting their driverless cars to respect cycle lanes is “too high a bar” – because their customers want to be dropped off in them.

But Waymo has denied making such a claim, instead pointing out that their cars are designed to “take the safest action available” when picking up or dropping off, noting that the vehicles will often “circle the block” to find an appropriate spot.

According to the Highway Code, motorists “must not drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a solid white line during its times of operation” or block a bike lane marked by a broken white line “unless it is unavoidable”.

Drivers are also told that they should give way to cyclists using the bike lane and wait for a “safe gap in the flow of cyclists” before crossing the infrastructure.

However, just as its robo-taxis begin driving autonomously in the UK for the first time, cycling campaigners in the US have claimed that Waymo has told them that the cars are programmed to pull into cycle lanes to pick up and drop off passengers.

Waymo Jaguar I-Pace in San Francisco
Waymo Jaguar I-Pace in San Francisco (Image Credit: Daniel Lu)

Speaking to Streets Blog NYC, Christopher White, executive director of the San Francisco Bike Coalition, said that Waymo has told campaigners that it is “normal practice” for the autonomous vehicles to veer into bike lanes and block cycling infrastructure.

“People always point out that unlike human driven cars, the AVs stop at lights and obey the speed limit,” White said.

“However, they are really only as good and effective and safe as they are programmed to be. Waymos pull over into bike lanes all the time for pickups and drop-offs and that’s neither legal nor safe.

“But the companies say that is a normal practice and that’s what customers expect.”

However, Waymo has refuted White’s claims, telling road.cc that their vehicles are programmed to prioritise the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, as well as their passengers.

“The Waymo Driver is designed to prioritise the safety of other road users and our riders, and to take the safest action available during the few minutes we spend picking up or dropping off,” the spokesperson told road.cc.

“As many riders know, our vehicles will often move down the street from their destination or circle the block to find an appropriate pick up or drop off spot.”

> Cyclist ‘doored’ by passenger of driverless taxi illegally parked in bike lane sues Google-owned company after tech failure caused “violent” crash

Last June, a cyclist in San Francisco sued the Google-owned company after she was seriously injured when one of the brand’s driverless taxis stopped in a cycle lane and a passenger opened its back door, striking the cyclist and causing her to smash into another Waymo car that was also illegally blocking the bike path.

According to the lawsuit, the Safe Exit system employed by Waymo, which aims to alert passengers of surrounding dangers and hazards, failed – leading 26-year-old Jenifer Hanki to claim that Waymo knows its cars are ‘dooring’ cyclists.

Following the “violent” crash, which left her with a brain injury, as well as spine and soft tissue damage, preventing her from working or riding her bike, Hanki sued Waymo and Google’s parent company Alphabet in San Francisco County Superior Court alleging battery, emotional distress, and negligence, while seeking unspecified damages.

A Waymo car overtaking a cyclist in London
A Waymo car overtaking a cyclist in London (Image Credit: Waymo)

Waymo, formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, announced in January that a pilot service for its robo-taxi service will launch this year in London, in preparation for the UK government’s plans to change its regulations on driverless vehicles at some point in the second half of 2026.

In November 2019, Waymo – owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet – secured permission from the California Department of Motor Vehicles for its vehicles to carry passengers without the need for a safety driver who could intervene in the case of a potential collision, making it the first company in the world to secure such clearance.

It has since established itself as the market leader in the United States for self-driving taxis, with commercial operations in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, and began testing its autonomous ‘robocabs’ in New York City last year.

After being driven around London by a ‘safety driver’ mapping the capital’s roads since last autumn, earlier this month Waymo confirmed that their cars are now starting to be controlled by artificial intelligence – though a human is still sitting in the driver’s seat, in case anything goes wrong.

Waymo described the move as the “the next step” towards a “fully autonomous passenger service later this year, pending government approval”.

> Safety of driverless taxis on London’s “infamously complex, congested, and contested streets remains to be seen”, say cycling campaigners – as ‘robotaxi’ service set to launch this year

Once the government signs off on the proposed new regulations, when the scheme eventually launches, it will be driver-free, with customers able to hail a robo-taxi through an app, with fares at a “competitive but premium” price, the company says.

According to Waymo, their cars use four sensor systems to gather data from the world outside – radar, lidar, vision, and microphone – enabling the vehicles to be “aware” of their surroundings up to a distance of three football pitches, and including during bad weather.

A powerful computer in the boot processes the data obtained by the sensor, determining how the car acts and reacts in “real time”.

However, questions have been raised concerning the scheme’s safety features, with the London Cycling Campaign expressing reservations to road.cc about the taxi service’s ability to adapt from the wide, straight roads of California to London’s winding lanes.

“As with all new innovation, it’s really early days for Waymo and other autonomous ride-hailing services in London,” the campaigns chief executive Tom Fyans told us in January.

“Waymo claims they’re far safer in the US than traditional taxi services. But whether that is still the case on London’s infamously complex, congested and contested streets, remains to be seen.

“At LCC, we talk to political leaders, innovators and private companies of all stripes all the time – to make sure everyone’s working hard to make London a better place for healthy, safe cycling for everyone. We hope new ride-sharing services will add to that, rather than detract from it.”

When it first launched as Waymo back in 2016, the firm said its cars are programmed to recognise cyclists as “unique users of the road”, drive conservatively around them, and recognise common hand signals.

In 2019, the company also released a video showing one of its vehicles predicting that cyclists will move out onto the road to pass a car blocking a cycle lane, with the taxi slowing to allow them to safely move across.

However, in February 2024, another San Francisco cyclist was left with “non-life-threatening injuries” after one of the company’s taxis failed to detect his presence and struck him.

According to the company, “the cyclist was occluded by the truck and quickly followed behind it, crossing into the Waymo vehicle’s path. When they became fully visible, our vehicle applied heavy braking but was not able to avoid the collision.”

And things haven’t got off to the best start in London either, with a TikTok video posted on Thursday showing a Waymo driving through a police cordon in the west of the city – though Waymo has since stated that the vehicle was being driven manually at the time of the incident.

@zonjy.mediaDriverless taxi waymo driver almost hit someone and drove straigh into crime scene tape almost hit a police officer obviously driverless taxi software seems like are not trained to avoid crime scene, crime scene tape, police car blue lights or ambulance blue lights in case of an accident. i think in my opinion this driverless taxi waymo are more risk than the public thinks. do you think this is safe enough to be in the streets of london. it puts police officers and emergency service people at risk last night.♬ original sound – London News

The argument that self-driving cars will make city streets safer – by cutting out human error – has also been criticised by journalists and campaigners, who point out that driverless taxis could encourage people to use cars more and public transport less, increasing the chances of crashes.

“We shouldn’t be asking only like, ‘Hey, are robotaxis safer than humans on a per-mile-driven basis?’ because there’s a real risk that AVs induce people to take a lot more car trips or to replace transit,” Bloomberg reporter David Zipper told Streets Blog NYC this week.

“We could end up with a lot more driving. And even if every individual, self-driven mile is safer, if you have that much more driving, you have more crashes overall.”