In April 2023, a viral video captured a Waymo autonomous vehicle stopping in the middle of an intersection in San Francisco and refusing to move — directly blocking an ambulance with its lights and sirens on responding to an emergency. The ambulance was forced to maneuver around the Waymo. In a separate incident months later, multiple Waymos froze simultaneously in the same San Francisco neighborhood, causing gridlock, after a large concert drew crowds to the area. San Francisco officials cited dozens of similar incidents in their application to California regulators to restrict robotaxi operations in the city.