Waymo's First Responder Program Receives Independent Safety Confirmation

Waymo’s ongoing education and engagement with emergency responders is crucial to operating our trusted, fully autonomous Waymo One ride-hailing service. Today, we are proud to share that Waymo’s First Responder Program was independently reviewed by TÜV SÜD, a global leader in safety testing and certification, making it the industry’s first such program to be validated according to industry best practices by a third-party.

“Waymo has spent years informing industry best practices and integrating them into the policies and procedures that guide the deployment of our technology,” said Francesca Favarò, Head of Safety Best Practices at Waymo. “Waymo’s First Responder Program is a fundamental part of Waymo’s approach to safety as we expand our ridership.”

In 2018 ahead of launching Waymo One, Waymo created our comprehensive First Responder Guide, the product of extensive dialogue with public safety officials. Since then, Waymo has continued to update the guide in addition to developing a robust First Responder Program. Waymo’s team of emergency response specialists has trained more than 15,000 first responders, including police, fire, and emergency medical personnel from over 75 agencies across the U.S., and engages with key first responder associations, including the International Associations of Chiefs of Police and Fire Chiefs.

Building a better Driver through collaboration

TÜV SÜD’s independent assessment confirms Waymo’s First Responder Program meets industry standards for emergency response protocols, in line with the best practice guidelines set out in the Society of Automotive Engineers’ (SAE) AVSC-I-01-2024. This important milestone validates our approach to collaborating with public safety officials, which was developed over several years.

“Waymo shows its commitment to safety by developing and improving its processes for ensuring safe interactions between its fully autonomous driving technology and first responders,” said Bijoy Bhaskaran, Director of Mobility, North America. “Through this first-of-its-kind assessment, we confirmed Waymo’s first responder program is consistent with industry standards.”

Waymo’s ongoing engagement with first responders is also an important source of feedback on current and future features for the Waymo Driver’s behavior in emergency situations. Waymo has developed several capabilities identified through user experience research with emergency officials in San Francisco and Phoenix and through closed-course testing. Their input has helped us refine features that improve interactions between the Waymo Driver and first responders, including:

• Advanced detection of emergency vehicles and sirens

• Real-time response to first responder hand signals and directions

• Secure protocols for emergency manual vehicle disengagement

As Waymo expands to more communities, our First Responder Ambassadors, led by Waymo’s Emergency Response and Outreach Manager Rob Patrick, are committed to hearing from emergency personnel on the ground and incorporating their insights into our program. If you’re interested in learning more about our First Responder Program, or would like to schedule a training session with Waymo’s First Responder Ambassadors, reach out to waymo-fro@waymo.com or visit our First Responders webpage.