Waymo’s Growing Pains | KQED
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upper waypointForum<br>Waymo’s Growing Pains
As Waymo expands into new markets nationwide, we examine its safety issues — and hear why a lot of passengers love self-driving cars anyway.
Jun 4, 2026
Mina Kim
A Waymo autonomous vehicle passes Randa’s Market on 16th Street as supporters gather outside to mourn the death of KitKat, a well-known cat killed by one of the company’s cars, on Nov. 4, 2025, in San Francisco’s Mission District. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)
Airdate: Friday, June 5 at 10 AM
Self-driving car companies like Waymo say their autonomous vehicles are dramatically safer than human drivers. But a new CNN investigation found that when things do go wrong, they tend to go wrong in decidedly un-human ways: being incapable of responding to instructions from first responders, driving through crime scenes, and even attempting to traverse entirely flooded streets. As Waymo expands into new markets nationwide, we’ll examine these safety issues — and hear why a lot of passengers love self-driving cars anyway.
Guests:<br>Yahya Abou-Ghazala, reporter and producer, CNN's investigative unit<br>Rya Jetha, senior reporter covering physical AI and robotics, Business Insider
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