Waymos Froze, Blocked Traffic During San Francisco Power Outage

Waymo’s driverless ride services were a high-profile victim of a power outage that affected large swaths of San Francisco, with cars freezing mid-ride across the city and disrupting traffic.

After traffic lights went dark at major intersections Saturday, social media videos showed multiple cars stopped in the middle of the street with their hazard lights flashing.

The power failures, which at one point affected 130,000 customers, closed stores and disrupted transit during the busy holiday shopping period — including many Waymo cars, Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving taxi service.

A Waymo driverless car unable to detect traffic lights after a major power outage in San Francisco, California, on Dec. 20.

Photographer: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images

Michele Riva, 30, was going home Saturday evening in a ...