Local Films Daring Escape as Waymo Self-Driving Car Hits Train Tracks [Watch]

A Waymo passenger was forced to flee as the self-driving car merged onto the Phoenix light rail tracks, with trains approaching in both directions, on 7 January 2026 in south Phoenix. Waymo is a fully autonomous ride-hailing service that uses fully electric Jaguar I-PACE cars, operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Metro Phoenix.

The video footage from Wednesday morning, recorded by a nearby resident, shows the passenger exiting the stopped vehicle, panning to the two oncoming trains from both directions. A few seconds later, the Waymo was seen reversing down the tracks, with onlookers unsure what it was trying to do.

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Phoenix police confirmed receiving a call about the incident and arrived at the scene after the Waymo car had left. In a KPNX-TV exclusive, Arizona State University advanced technology professor Andrew Maynard said these instances occur, though they are extremely uncommon. Maynard attributes the incident to a state of 'confusion' in which Waymo could have been 'blindsided' by the road being surrounded by construction.

Near-Miss Incident

According to a First Alert 6 report, Waymo vehicles receive weekly updates on their routes and systems and have 29 cameras installed. The incident, which took place near Central and Southern avenues, reportedly did not disrupt the light rail service, according to KPNX-TV. The report also said that the tracks were 'relatively new' in the area, one of the reasons for the 'confusion' at Waymo, which led to the mishap.

Despite the horrifying incident, Professor Andrew Maynard still regards these vehicles as safer than those driven by humans since they operate with fewer distractions and can respond to issues more quickly.

He said, 'I actually felt a little sorry for the car. It obviously made a bad decision and got itself in a difficult place. This is exactly one of those edge cases, what we call them. Something unexpected where the machine drove like a machine rather than a person,' per a People report.

Maynard also said in the interview, 'I think Waymo has a challenge because no matter what they do with their system, there are always going to be unexpected circumstances where they have to learn from them.'

This is not the first reported incident of a Waymo going haywire. A near-miss incident also occurred in December of 2025, when the self-driving car swerved into oncoming traffic without warning, convincing passenger Chris Riotta Rogers that she was seconds away from a crash. The impact was avoided when the other driver immediately swerved to avoid the Waymo.

In prior reports, a Waymo passenger took to social media to document the vehicle going in circles for a whole eight times, holding her back and nearly causing her to miss her flight. The passenger reached out to Waymo's customer support, which began troubleshooting to fix the issue, according to People.

These incidents highlight the unpredictability of autonomous vehicles, which can result in horrifying and dangerous situations involving passengers, particularly in areas with ongoing construction. Furthermore, experts emphasise sensor accuracy, machine learning, and anticipating these scenarios where a passenger's life is at risk as areas to improve and refine autonomous cars' decision-making logic.