Fully driverless Waymos are now navigating Detroit streets with nobody behind the wheel. Michigan law says the automated system itself is the driver—but what happens when that software runs a red light, enters a closed street or needs to be stopped by police? The robotaxi future has arrived, and Michigan’s traffic laws may be facing their first real-world test.
DETROIT — Fully driverless Waymo vehicles are now navigating Detroit streets with nobody behind the wheel, moving Michigan into a new era of autonomous transportation—and raising questions about whether the state’s traffic laws are ready when the “driver” is software.
Waymo began operating fully autonomous vehicles in Detroit this week after months of testing with human safety specialists. For now, rides are limited to Waymo employees, but the Alphabet-owned company plans to eventually open the robotaxi service to the public.
Waymo has not announced when Detroit residents will be able to hail a driverless ride.
The vehicles are operating downtown and in surrounding areas including Corktown, Midtown, Hamtramck and Indian Village, with Waymo planning to gradually expand across Metro Detroit.
Detroit Enters The Driverless Era
Waymo’s move represents a significant milestone for Michigan, home of the American automobile industry and decades of research into autonomous vehicles.
If you see a Waymo traveling through Detroit now, there may literally be nobody sitting in the driver’s seat.
Waymo spokesman Chris Bonelli said the latest phase follows months of familiarizing its autonomous driving system with Detroit, coordinating with local officials and talking with community members.
The company says public rides will begin only after its technology has been properly validated in Detroit and local operations are ready.
That could be especially important in Michigan.
Detroit presents autonomous vehicles with conditions that differ sharply from warmer Waymo markets such as Phoenix and Los Angeles.
Snow, freezing rain, road salt, potholes, construction and lane markings obscured by winter weather could provide an important test of whether robotaxis can operate reliably in northern cities.
Waymo is also preparing operations in Chicago and Montreal as it expands into colder climates.
Michigan Law Already Recognizes A Robot Driver
Michigan lawmakers anticipated driverless vehicles years before they began roaming Detroit streets.
State law allows automated motor vehicles to operate on Michigan roads.
More significantly, when an automated driving system capable of operating without a human is engaged, Michigan law considers the automated driving system itself to be the driver or operator for purposes of determining compliance with traffic and motor-vehicle laws.
That means Michigan has already answered one important legal question:
The vehicle doesn’t need a human sitting behind the wheel to legally have a “driver.”
But the arrival of Waymo may expose another question Michigan law hasn’t answered as clearly.
What happens when the software driver breaks a traffic law?
Who Gets The Ticket?
Michigan’s conventional traffic-citation process was largely designed around police officers stopping human drivers.
MITechNews found no general provision in Michigan’s autonomous-vehicle statutes explicitly saying a conventional moving violation committed by a fully driverless vehicle automatically becomes a ticket issued to the autonomous-vehicle company or manufacturer.
That distinction has already created problems elsewhere.
In September 2025, police in San Bruno, California, watched a driverless Waymo make what officers said was an illegal U-turn.
They stopped the vehicle.
There was nobody to ticket.
San Bruno police joked publicly that their citation books didn’t contain a box for “robot.”
California subsequently adopted legislation creating a mechanism for police to issue notices of autonomous-vehicle noncompliance to companies operating driverless vehicles.
Michigan could eventually confront the same issue now that Waymos are operating without drivers in Detroit.
If a Waymo runs a red light, makes an illegal turn or enters a closed street, Michigan law considers the automated system the driver.
But software can’t appear in district court or pay a fine.
Waymo Drove Into Denver Farmers Market
Another recent Waymo incident demonstrates why the issue isn’t entirely theoretical.
On Sept. 20, a driverless Waymo entered Denver’s South Pearl Street Farmers Market while vendors were setting up.
Video showed the autonomous vehicle inside the pedestrian market area.
Denver officials said barricades are placed on the street every Sunday during the farmers market.
Witnesses told CBS Colorado the Waymo eventually moved on after people cleared a path.
Nobody was reported injured.
But the incident illustrates an unusual problem cities face when autonomous vehicles encounter temporary street closures, construction, festivals or emergency scenes.
Detroit regularly closes streets for sporting events, festivals, parades, construction and emergencies.
A human driver can see a police officer waving traffic away, hear a firefighter shouting instructions or be told to immediately leave a restricted area.
A driverless vehicle must interpret those situations through cameras, sensors, mapping, software and, in some situations, remote assistance.
Detroit Police And Firefighters Face New Situations
The issue has already attracted attention in Michigan.
Earlier this year, Henry Liu, director of the University of Michigan’s Mcity autonomous-vehicle research center, raised questions about how emergency responders will interact with robotaxis as Waymo expands.
If an autonomous vehicle stops and won’t move, Liu asked, who moves it and what equipment will emergency responders need?
Those questions become more urgent now that the human safety driver has disappeared.
Regulatory authority is also divided.
Local police enforce traffic laws. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration oversees federal vehicle-safety requirements. Michigan laws govern autonomous-vehicle operation, while Detroit police, firefighters and other local agencies must deal with the vehicles on city streets.
No single agency oversees every aspect of the system.
Waymo Says Its Vehicles Are Safer
Waymo argues that removing human drivers can make roads safer.
The company says its vehicles have accumulated more than 270 million fully autonomous miles across its operating cities.
Waymo says its autonomous vehicles have experienced substantially fewer serious and fatal-injury crashes than comparable human drivers.
Those are Waymo’s figures, and Detroit presents a new operating environment.
How the vehicles perform through a Michigan winter will provide another test.
Driverless Cars Also Raise A Jobs Question
Waymo’s Detroit expansion has another potentially important Michigan consequence: employment.
The company’s business model ultimately competes with Uber, Lyft and conventional taxi services—without paying someone to drive the vehicle.
Widespread adoption could therefore reduce demand for some driving jobs.
At the same time, autonomous fleets require workers to maintain vehicles, manage fleets, provide remote assistance and support the technology.
For Michigan, that makes Waymo’s arrival more than a transportation experiment.
It’s also another example of artificial intelligence and automation changing the kinds of workers companies need.
The Cars Are Already Here
Michigan lawmakers spent years creating a legal environment intended to encourage autonomous-vehicle development.
Now that policy is moving from test tracks and research centers onto Detroit streets.
The immediate question isn’t whether Michigan should permit driverless vehicles.
It already does.
The next question is whether traffic enforcement, emergency-response procedures and liability laws written largely for human drivers need to evolve as vehicles increasingly drive themselves.
Those questions can be debated and addressed in the months ahead.
But Detroit motorists don’t have to wait to see what the driverless future looks like.
It’s already sharing the road with them.
Coming next: MITechNews is asking Michigan autonomous-vehicle experts, industry leaders and government officials what Waymo’s Detroit arrival means for the state’s homegrown autonomous-vehicle industry, jobs and regulation. We’ll examine how Ann Arbor-based May Mobility’s approach compares with Waymo, whether Michigan’s driverless-vehicle laws need updating, who should be responsible when software violates a traffic law, how police and firefighters interact with vehicles that have no driver, and whether Michigan can remain a national center for autonomous transportation as commercial deployment accelerates.
