--- title: "Drivers Trapped for Hours in Hopeless Gridlock as Waymos Brick on Major Holiday" description: "San Francisco was mired in gridlock on the Fourth of July as an untold number of dead Waymos clogged Bay Area streets." date: "2026-07-06" modified: "2026-07-06" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/waymo-san-francisco-drivers-traffic-gridlock" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" --- # Drivers Trapped for Hours in Hopeless Gridlock as Waymos Brick on Major Holiday ![A stylized photo illustration featuring a Waymo vehicle from above.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Iv-olga / Shutterstock* Revelers celebrating US independence day in San Francisco over the weekend were stopped in their tracks as an untold number of Waymo robotaxis stalled, exacerbating the city's horrible holiday gridlock. According [to *NBC News*](), several Waymos had to be towed out of busy roadways after their batteries died on one of the city's [worst traffic days]() of the year so far. On top of [intense fog]() and significant [public transit slowdowns](), travelers had to bob and weave past the bricked electric vehicles, which in some cases blocked traffic completely. One resident, Dave Guingona, told *NBC* he spent two hours sitting in traffic waiting for a "number of Waymo vehicles" to be towed away. "Five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes went by, then we realized people were getting out of their cars, yelling and screaming at these Waymos because there were no drivers," Guingona said. Another video viewed by *NBC* showed Waymos parked in the middle of a busy intersection, one of which was being hauled off on a flatbed truck. In one case, resident and Waymo rider Rose Peterson said her vehicle drove straight over lit fireworks that someone had set off in the crosswalk — a [pretty typical scenario]() for US cities on the Fourth of July, but evidently an edge case in training data for autonomous vehicles. "We were pulling up to a four-way stop and this guy was shooting off a firework in the middle of the road, and then our Waymo starts driving, and we're like 'wait, what's happening?" Peterson said. "I definitely think it needs to be more sensitive of anything that can come into the path of the road." The city-wide autono-mess comes not even a year after a blackout in the Bay Area left [Waymos stranded]() in the streets, putting a [massive strain]() on public resources, much like did on the Fourth. It just goes to show: you can take the human out of the driver's seat, but at the end of the day, a [car's gonna do]() what a car's gonna do. **More on Waymo:** *[Waymo Caught Driving Straight Into Oncoming Traffic]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()