According to the videos, a Waymo robotaxi heading west crossed a double solid yellow line onto the eastbound lane closest to the median as it drove behind a crowd of people riding electric scooters and unicycles.
The autonomous vehicle, which carried someone in the passenger seat, continued to drive in the opposite traffic lane, braking intermittently as it approached the Shaw Alley crosswalk. The Waymo drove past four oncoming vehicles traveling in the furthest right eastbound lane, as well as several cyclists heading west, before it merged back onto the left westbound lane, according to video footage.
The Waymo vehicle stopped shortly before approaching the stoplight intersection on Mission and Second streets after a unicyclist got in front of the vehicle in an apparent attempt to guide it back to the westbound lanes.
Waymo told the Chronicle in a statement that the robotaxi "detected that there may be a risk of a person within that crowd who had fallen down, and decided to carefully initiate a passing maneuver when the opposing lane was clear to move around what could be an obstacle and a safety concern."
"After starting that maneuver, out of an abundance of caution around these vulnerable road users, and to avoid getting too close or cutting them off, the Waymo remained in the oncoming lane for longer than necessary before returning to its original lane of travel," the company said. "The safety of all road users is a top priority for Waymo, and we look forward to learning from this unique event."
The wrong-way incident took place in a busy part of the city that's proved challenging for autonomous vehicles to navigate. At Market and Fifth streets in October, a Cruise robotaxi involved in a hit-and-run accident that was caused by a human driver struck and dragged a jaywalking pedestrian 20 feet.
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