Woman Gives Birth in Driverless Waymo Car on the Way to a Hospital: A ‘Rare Occurrence’

A San Francisco woman gave an unexpected twist to the idea of “driverless delivery” when she gave birth inside a fully autonomous Waymo vehicle.

On Monday, Dec. 8, the expectant mother requested a Waymo — the company’s driverless ride-hailing service — to take her to UCSF Medical Center for the birth of her baby, according to WABC, KRON4 and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Partway through the trip, Waymo’s remote Rider Support Team detected “unusual activity” in the vehicle and placed a call to the passenger. During that check-in, the rider told them she had gone into labor inside the car. The Waymo team then contacted 911, per the outlets.

Before first responders could arrive, the woman successfully delivered her baby in the autonomous vehicle. The car then continued on to the hospital, where both mother and newborn were safely handed over to medical staff.

The hospital cared for the new family while the Waymo vehicle was taken out of service and sent for cleaning, according to the Chronicle.

Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.

“This is not the first baby to be born inside a Waymo vehicle. While it’s a rare occurrence… some of our newest riders just can’t wait to experience their first ride,” the company said in a statement to WABC.

In a separate statement to KRON4 and the Chronicle, Waymo added that it was “proud to be a trusted ride for moments big and small” and to be “serving riders from just seconds old to many years young.”

The company continued, “We wish the new family all the best, and we look forward to safely getting them where they’re going through many of life’s events.”

The unusual birth comes as Waymo faces increased scrutiny over the safety of its autonomous vehicles following several recent incidents. Earlier this month, two of the company’s cars allegedly caused a traffic jam in San Francisco, and in another case, a man claimed the AI system wrongly labeled him a terrorist, according to the Chronicle.

A school district in Texas also asked Waymo to pull its driverless cars off the road during school pickup hours after footage surfaced of a vehicle illegally passing stopped school buses with red lights flashing, per Good Morning America.

That incident led to an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the outlet reported.

Waymo told ABC News that the school bus episode was caused by a software issue and said it has since “implemented software updates to address this and will continue to rapidly improve.”