Self-driving car service Waymo has temporarily suspended service in San Francisco after the autonomous cars caused major traffic jams during a citywide power outage, according to reports.
Waymo halted service in San Francisco as of Saturday at 8 p.m. after its vehicles snarled traffic during a nasty blackout that left traffic lights across the city down. Blackouts hit some 125,000 homes and businesses throughout the day, according to Mission Local.
“We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services in the San Francisco Bay Area due to the widespread power outage. Our teams are working diligently and in close coordination with city officials to monitor infrastructure stability, and we are hopeful to bring our services back online soon,” a Waymo spokesperson told The Independent Sunday morning.
Without working traffic lights, the driverless cars were seemingly left confused, with many halting in their tracks and causing major traffic jams.
Local riders and pedestrians shared photos and videos of the vehicles stuck at intersections with long lines of drivers piling up behind them.
“Power outage took out the waymos RIP,” one X user jokingly wrote along with a video of the stalled vehicles.
Power outage took out the waymos RIP pic.twitter.com/DPte8oOGku
— Vincent Woo (@fulligin) December 21, 2025
The user noted that, at least in those circumstances, the autonomous cars “recovered reasonably quickly” and the intersection had been cleared.
In some instances, several Waymos were piled up in front of a single intersection.
“6 Waymos parked at a broken traffic light blocking the roads. Seems like they were not trained for a power outage,” another social media user wrote.
6 Waymo’s parked at a broken traffic light blocking the roads. Seems like they were not trained for a power outage pic.twitter.com/9fBkoxgKwe
— Walden (@walden_yan) December 21, 2025
On the eve of the longest night of 2025, many parts of San Francisco lost power. Traffic lights were out. Fleets of Waymo were stuck and confused. pic.twitter.com/uespcBhijt
— Ann (@AnnTrades) December 21, 2025
bad day to be a Waymo in SF during a PG&E-induced power outage pic.twitter.com/3SwEP993zn
— Mishaal Abbasi (@WhereIsMishaal) December 21, 2025
The power outage apparently stemmed from an issue Saturday morning at a substation at 8th Street and Mission Street, SFGate reported.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said in an 11:30 p.m. update Saturday that about 95,000 customers had their power restored. Crews were going to continue working through the night to restore service to the remaining 35,000 without.
There were no injuries due to the outage, the energy supplier added.
It was not immediately clear how long Waymo’s service would be suspended. In a statement to The Independent, a spokesperson said they “are hopeful to bring our services back online soon.”
“We appreciate your patience and will provide further updates as soon as they are available,” the company said.
