4 OCTOBER 1-7, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Ticket to Nowhere DENVER POLICE CAN’T CITE WAY- MOS, BUT STATE LAWMAKERS MAY CHANGE THAT. BY HANNAH METZGER Waymo has hit a few speed bumps in its fi rst month operating in Denver. The self-driving taxis, which opened to the public on Sept. 1, have wandered into farmers’ markets, entered construction zones and been involved in one collision. But when the autonomous vehicles violate traffi c laws, local police say they have no way to give them citations. Colorado law provides no mechanism to cite driverless cars for moving violations, according to the Denver Police Department. Waymos are designed to pull over for po- lice and other emergency vehicles, but once stopped, no one is behind the wheel to re- ceive a ticket. Moving violations are served to drivers, unlike parking violations, which are served to vehicles and therefore can be issued to Waymos, according to the Denver Depart- ment of Transportation & Infrastructure. That may soon change. State lawmakers will consider new regulations on autono- mous vehicles next year. “We need to make sure that the com- pany is held accountable in the same way that individuals are held accountable when they break the law,” says State Rep. Jenny Willford, who plans to lead a bill regard- ing autonomous vehicles during the 2027 legislative session. Willford says her bill will focus on develop- ing a mechanism to issue citations, creating a specifi c licensure category for self-driving taxis under the Public Utilities Commission, clarifying that the PUC has oversight over the companies, and setting data retention and storage requirements. Specifi c details are still being worked out ahead of the 2027 legislative session, which begins on Jan. 11. Though Waymo’s recent mishaps have brought statutory gaps to the public’s atten- tion, Willford says she was already consider- ing autonomous vehicle regulations during the last legislative session. However, she claims Gov. Jared Polis was opposed to any bills that would impact Waymo. “The governor was very, very, very opposed to doing anything connected to Waymo,” Willford says, calling the lack of legislation ahead of Waymo’s launch “100% a Jared Polis special.” She adds, “It’s disap- pointing. I believe strongly that consumers have a right to know that they are going to be safe when they’re using a product. And if there’s zero regulation over a company that’s operating within our state, that to me is really concerning.” A spokesperson for Polis disputes this characterization, saying the governor “didn’t see any bills on that topic.” “[He] would have loved to sign a bill that helped reduce the risks of bad driving by helping autonomous vehicles operate safely in Colorado,” says Eric Maruyama, spokesperson for Polis. “The governor sup- ports giving Coloradans more options to get where you are going safely and conveniently, all while getting more EVs on the road, and is always open to ways to make our roads safer, including by ensuring that Waymo and other autonomous vehicles follow the rules of the road just like every other driver.” Legislators passed a bill regarding commer- cial self-driving vehicles last session that would not have applied to Waymo. Polis vetoed it. House Bill 26-1286 would have required a hu- man driver to be present when an automated driving system operates a commercial motor vehicle on the highway if the vehicle weighs more than 26,001 pounds. The bill passed with support from 86 out of 100 legislators. “HB 26-1286 risks preventing Coloradans from being on the cutting edge of innovation that would improve safety in the future,” Polis wrote in his veto letter, going on to add that “driver error is the leading cause of accidents, and we should preserve tools which could make Coloradans safer.” Polis is term-limited and will leave offi ce in January, so the fate of Willford’s bill will be decided by the incoming governor. State legislators authorized fully autono- mous vehicles to operate in Colorado with the passage of Senate Bill 17-213 in 2017. The law specifi ed that autonomous vehicles must meet all applicable state and federal laws, but did not establish a way to cite them or their operating companies when a violation occurs. The law also declared autonomous driving regulations a matter of statewide concern, blocking local jurisdictions from setting their own rules or restrictions on their use. Other states where Waymo operates have run into similar issues. California — the state with the most Waymo vehicles — only recently enabled police to ticket autonomous vehicles, beginning on July 1, two years after Waymo’s full commercial service started in the state. Willford says she has no intention of pushing Waymo out of Denver with new regulations. “I’m very interested in making sure that Waymo is able to operate in Colorado,” she says. “In fact, I actually really enjoyed my Waymo ride. I don’t want to see Waymo go away in Colorado. I want to make sure that what we’re doing makes sense and is aligned with the other consumer protection policies that we’ve put in place at the state level.” Waymo Whoopsies Waymo vehicles have been caught in several situations that may have resulted in a citation — if they were able to receive one. An empty Waymo drove into the South Pearl Street Farmers Market on Sept. 20, passing signs indicating the road was closed to the public, though traffi c was still open to vendors who were setting up. Staff eventu- ally guided it back onto the street. The prior month, a different Waymo got stuck at the City Park Farmers Market. One of the autonomous vehicles drove into a construction zone on Sept. 24, nearly driving onto a freshly paved roadway before crew members stood in front of the Waymo to stop it. Another Waymo got confused by construction on Colfax Avenue on Aug. 6, doing U-turns and weaving around the area before stopping in the middle of a lane. A video shared on Reddit in September shows a third Waymo having diffi culty navigating a construction area in Denver, driving over a curb and approaching a fenced area. Denver police have reported just one collision involving a Waymo, though the Waymo was found not at fault. A (human) driver rear-ended a stopped vehicle and pushed it into the back of a stopped Waymo on Aug. 27. The two driv- ers claimed the Waymo stopped suddenly for no apparent reason, blaming it for the collision. A Waymo spokesperson says its vehicle stopped to yield to a pedestrian waiting in the curb cut to cross the street. There is no marked crosswalk or stop sign at the intersection where the Waymo stopped; however, state law requires vehicles to yield to pedestrians at all intersections and cross- walks, even if the lines are not marked. Police issued the driver a citation for fol- lowing too closely. A peer-reviewed study by Waymo found that its self-driving cars had a signifi cantly lower crash rate than human drivers. How- ever, the vehicles have still been involved in over 1,600 collisions resulting in police reports since Waymo fi rst launched its fully driverless service in Phoenix in 2020, ac- cording to company data. There have only been three fatal colli- sions involving Waymo, though the autono- mous vehicles were not considered at fault. In two incidents, the Waymos were empty and struck from behind by human drivers: one while in standstill traffi c and the other while slowing to turn into a parking lot. In the third incident, a jaywalking pedestrian was report- edly hit by a human driver, and his body was thrown into the side of an unoccupied Waymo. “If a Waymo vehicle is involved in a crash, DPD offi cers will follow the same response and investigatory procedures as all crashes, which includes creating and fi ling a crash report,” explains Doug Schepman, DPD communications director. “In addition to completing a police report, the investigating offi cer will make sure to facilitate an exchange which would include the insurance informa- tion for Waymo. ... DPD has protocols in place for interacting with a Waymo vehicle should it become disabled in a crash, require towing, or experience a technical issue.” If a driver or passenger is involved in a crash with a Waymo, all parties are advised to contact Denver police to report the crash and wait on scene for an offi cer to respond. Email the author at hannah.metzger@westword. com. NEWS KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS A Denver parking enforcement vehicle with its lights fl ashing behind a Waymo stopped at a “no parking” sign. HANNAH METZGER