Who’s driving Waymo’s self-driving cars? Sometimes, the police.

Last August, a fire ripped through 10 acres of grass on either side of California’s I-280 near Redwood City. Traffic backed up as firefighters extinguished the blaze, and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers directed drivers to turn around and travel the wrong way to exit the freeway. 

Some of those drivers encountered a new obstacle: a Waymo robotaxi.