Waymo, Zeekr-Built 'Ojai' Robotaxi Crashes In Los Angeles During Testing With On-Board Safety Driver

An Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) autonomous cab service, Waymo's "Ojai" Robotaxi, built in collaboration with Chinese automaker Zeekr, crashed into multiple vehicles in Los Angeles' Echo Park area.

Ojai Robotaxi Was Driven By A Human

Surveillance camera footage has emerged of the incident on Tuesday, which took place on Sunday, around the Dodger Stadium area in the city. The video shows a Waymo veering off the road onto a grassy patch, before it came back on the street and crashed into multiple parked cars.

Waymo and Zeekr didn't immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.

Eyewitness reports suggest the car was being operated by a human driver, who is reportedly safe, with one witness sharing that the car almost crashed into his mother before she was pushed out of the way in time by his brother.

The vehicle was recently unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 and features the company's sixth-generation autonomous driving suite with multiple sensors and a minivan-like design.

Waymo's San Francisco Debacle

Last year in December, the company faced repeated disruptions in Robotaxi operations in San Francisco, owing to multiple factors, including a PG&E Corp-operated (NYSE:PCG) substation outage in the city, which resulted in Waymo pausing its service. Waymo issued a fleet-wide software update following the incident.

Waymo had also halted its operations in the San Francisco Bay Area on Christmas Day following severe weather warnings, including flash floods issued by the National Weather Service.

Waymo's Growth

The news comes as Waymo has sought to raise more than $10 billion in funding at a $100 billion valuation. Waymo is also among the leaders in the Robotaxi race, with the company's global Robotaxi fleet comprising over 2,500 vehicles.

Waymo has also eyed an expansion into London, with the company recently carrying out testing in the city with its local partner Moove. The company also reached 14 million paid Robotaxi rides in 2025.

Alphabet scores well on the Momentum and Quality metrics, but offers poor Value. It also has a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium, and Long term. 

Price Action: GOOGL surged 0.34% to $335.68 during after-hours trading on Friday.

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