Waymo’s driverless taxi trial in London is under fire after one of its vehicles drove straight into an active police cordon — and critics are now demanding the whole programme be paused.
The Brent Green Party has launched a petition urging the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, to suspend the trial, arguing that the autonomous vehicles “do not meet the minimum safety standards” required for the capital’s streets.
The flashpoint was an incident on 22 April in Harlesden, where a Waymo car drove through a live police cordon on Harlesden High Street while officers were investigating a double stabbing. Waymo, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, has confirmed the car was in manual mode at the time, with what it called a “validation driver in full control” — and that driver has since been suspended. The firm said its analysis suggests that if the car had been in fully autonomous mode, it would have identified the danger and stopped.
That’s done little to calm the critics. Newly elected Green Party councillor Amandine Alexandre called the footage “deeply concerning,” telling reporters that vehicles operating “without impunity” and putting police investigations at risk was “beyond rational reasoning.”
For context, Waymo launched its London pilot earlier this year with the aim of running a fully driverless robotaxi service later in 2026. The cars are not yet carrying paying passengers — they’re currently mapping the streets with safety drivers on board. When the commercial service launches, however, there will be no human at the wheel. The company has around 24 Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in the capital, operating from its first UK depot in Park Royal, also in Brent.
The borough is split. Former Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt has said it would be “irresponsible” not to engage with a global business investing in the area, though he stressed engagement “is not a blank cheque.” Brent Council previously described Waymo’s decision to base its UK operation in the borough as “a major vote of confidence.”
There’s a broader question for the UK taxi and private hire trade here. The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 puts liability with the manufacturer or software developer when a car is fully autonomous, which is a different legal world from the one human drivers operate in. If robotaxis hit the streets in numbers, drivers across the trade will be watching closely — both to see what protections they have, and to see whether genuinely autonomous vehicles can be trusted to navigate London’s busy, unpredictable roads as safely as a human cabbie.
New York City paused its robotaxi trials earlier this year over similar concerns: stakeholder support, safety, liability and the impact on professional drivers’ jobs. London’s Mayor has said he is “determined to harness the opportunities” of new technology, but the Harlesden incident has handed critics a high-profile example of what can go wrong.
For now, the trial continues. The petition, and the pressure, isn’t going anywhere.
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Sources:
- Waymo driverless taxi trial in London borough ‘should be stopped’ as petition launched — Yahoo News UK
- Driverless Waymo taxi trial faces calls for suspension after Harlesden police cordon incident in Brent — Harrow Online
- ‘Driverless’ taxi crashes into London crime scene as detectives probe double stabbing — LBC
