DENVER, CO — Two Denver drivers are asking why a Waymo stopped in a travel lane Thursday before a chain-reaction crash near Denver Health. Denver police said the collision happened around 2:36 p.m. near West 8th Avenue and Delaware Street.
Police said a westbound driver struck another vehicle, which was pushed into the back of a stopped, unoccupied Waymo. Investigators described the hit involving the autonomous vehicle as a secondary collision.
The people involved said the stop came as a surprise, and both drivers later described minor injuries and damaged vehicles.
What Drivers Saw
Mark Kibler was driving the van directly behind the Waymo and said the vehicle had been moving slowly ahead of him before it came to a stop as it approached Delaware Street. He said there was no obvious reason for the pause.
Kibler said he first thought someone was behind the wheel and even honked his horn. He said cars began moving around the stopped vehicle, and he was able to stop his van before hitting it.
Alfredo Arrieta was approaching from behind seconds later. He said he looked up and saw his airbags deploy after his car struck the back of Kibler’s van.
Police Citation
Denver police said Arrieta’s car hit Kibler’s van, pushing the van into the Waymo. Police later told CBS Colorado that one driver was cited for following too closely.
Arrieta said he was frustrated by the chain reaction and the added trouble it could create with insurance claims. Kibler said he expected the case to turn into a legal matter.
There were no people inside the autonomous vehicle when the crash happened. Denver police said there is no record of another crash involving a Waymo vehicle in the city.
Waymo Response
Waymo said Thursday evening that the vehicle had steadily slowed as it approached the intersection and then came to a full stop to yield to a pedestrian waiting on the curb to cross the street. The company said the pedestrian crossed without incident.
Kibler said he did not see anyone crossing when the vehicle stopped. He said the vehicle was stopped in the roadway with no stop sign, traffic signal or marked crosswalk at the spot where it came to rest.
Waymo said it cooperated fully with Denver police at the scene. Police said they continue to investigate the cause of the initial collision.
What Comes Next
The crash has put a spotlight on how self-driving vehicles behave in real traffic, especially when they slow or stop in traffic lanes that other drivers do not expect to be blocked. The collision also raised immediate questions for the drivers who ended up dealing with the damage.
Waymo had already been testing autonomous vehicles in Denver with human specialists behind the wheel before announcing in July that it was preparing to begin fully autonomous operations without a human specialist. Thursday’s crash added a new real-world test of how those vehicles interact with busy city streets.
For now, police are still sorting out the first impact that set off the chain reaction.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
