Waymo’s driverless robotaxi service in Denver has been caught off guard after their launch on September 1, 2026. Numerous robotaxis have been attacked by throwing eggs, shocking passengers and creating international news of the robotaxis’ reception by the citizens of Denver. Such incidents are recorded by Denver residents and include car drivers throwing eggs at the driverless taxis to impede their movement, drive alongside the taxis, throw eggs at the taxis and finally, arresting and chasing the driverless vehicle across the Denver city streets. In addition to vandalism, Waymo has also experienced navigation issues with markets, car shows and temporary street closures.

As Waymo has begun to scale up, there are questions as to whether the public will be willing to accept self-driving vehicles, or indeed whether they are safe, whether they respect residents’ privacy, and who will be responsible when something goes wrong. Current traffic laws do not accommodate citation of a vehicle without a human driver; new laws and new mechanisms are emerging that will be needed to address driverless vehicles. Denver police have issued a list of tips for robotaxi interactions, and weather this winter will be challenging as the vehicles drive in snowy conditions and changing conditions. Despite Waymo’s claims of significant reductions in some crashes and injuries compared with human drivers, independent safety advocates and investigations have raised questions about their real-world effectiveness. Denver’s experience can provide lessons for the future of transportation.

1. Waymo Robotaxis Face Egging Attacks After Denver Launch

Waymo’s fully driverless ride-hailing service in Denver has encountered unexpected public hostility since opening to passengers on September 1, 2026. Several robotaxis have been targeted with eggs, raising questions about the cultural and practical challenges of introducing autonomous vehicles into busy urban communities. Denver resident Connor McGriff experienced one such incident on October 11 while riding home around 6 p.m. As the vehicle passed Lincoln Street near Capitol Hill and headed toward LoDo, two loud impacts startled him. Looking up from his phone, he noticed what appeared to be two eggs splattered across the windshield. He had not expected his first robotaxi ride to involve vandalism, particularly when he could not identify who had thrown the eggs.

What Happened During the Denver Ride:

• Public service launched September 1
• Egging incident occurred October 11
• Two loud impacts startled passenger
• Eggs splattered across front windshield
• Vehicle continued toward its destination

McGriff did not see whether a pedestrian or another driver was responsible because he had been looking at his phone when the eggs struck. He also observed that the autonomous vehicle did not appear to detect the splattered yolk and continued toward his destination normally. Although the experience made him more cautious about how the public might react to passengers exiting automated vehicles, it did not discourage him from using Waymo again. The ride had been booked by a friend who works on The Denver Gazette’s digital team. That friend had already been dropped off and did not report the incident to Waymo or local police. McGriff’s experience, however, was not the only reported example of robotaxis being targeted in Denver.

2. Denver Passenger Films a Hostile Waymo Confrontation

Another incident involving a Waymo robotaxi was captured on video by Denver resident Jeff Hunley on September 24. Hunley was heading toward Union Station and had barely fastened his seatbelt when a driver pulled alongside the autonomous vehicle and threw an egg at its window. The motorist then drove away before circling back and pursuing the robotaxi. The confrontation escalated at the intersection of 11th and Broadway, where the driver blocked the vehicle’s path, got out carrying a full carton of eggs, and repeatedly pelted the Waymo. Hunley recorded the encounter, while nearby bystanders took out their phones to document the egg-covered vehicle. The incident demonstrated how quickly a passenger’s routine driverless trip could become unsettling.

Details of the Recorded Egging Incident:

• Driver initially threw an egg
• Motorist returned to pursue robotaxi
• Vehicle blocked near 11th and Broadway
• Attacker carried a full egg carton
• Bystanders recorded the confrontation

During the incident, Hunley contacted Waymo from inside the cabin. The company refunded his fare and provided ride credits for future trips. Because nobody was physically injured, he decided not to file a formal police report. Despite the confrontation, Hunley continued using the service and valued the convenience of driverless transportation around Denver. His response illustrates the mixed experience autonomous ride-hailing can create a passenger may appreciate the service while still facing unexpected hostility from other road users. Alongside McGriff’s account, Hunley’s video contributed to a growing collection of reported egging incidents in the city. These encounters also connect Denver’s experience to a broader history of vandalism directed at autonomous vehicles elsewhere in the United States.

3. Waymo Vandalism Has a History in California and Arizona

The attacks on Denver’s driverless vehicles are part of a nationwide trend of hostility toward autonomous cars. By mid-October 2026, Waymo’s driverless taxis were available in 15 cities, with 17 more markets including Chicago and New York slated to come online soon. California and Arizona, where driverless cars began testing long before any other states, have seen some of the most extreme violence. In San Francisco in February 2024, an empty Waymo was plied with graffiti, having its windows smashed and its body spray-painted with obscenities before someone threw a lit firework through one of its windows and set it on fire. Other driverless vehicles were also spray-painted while occupied with passengers.

Earlier Attacks on Autonomous Fleets:

• San Francisco crowd smashed vehicle windows
• Graffiti covered autonomous car exteriors
• Lit firework set one vehicle ablaze
• Some attacks occurred with passengers inside
• Public hostility predates Denver deployment

Los Angeles also saw attacks when Waymo began to grow its operation. In January 2025, a group of people stormed an unoccupied robotaxi stopped at a red light, shattering its windows and breaking its windshield, and ripping a passenger door off of the vehicle. In July 2026, a person was caught on video leaning against a wrecked windshield in East Hollywood and pulling guts of the vehicle out of its opening. Elsewhere, a person drop-kicked a passenger door off its hinges and struck the windshield with the lip of a bumper. Arizona experienced its own spate of violence Police logs for suburban Phoenix and Chandler, Arizona, revealed as many as 24 incidents between 2017 and 2019 in which drivers documented having slashed tires, shattered windows, thrown rocks, and attempted to force the vans off the road.

4. Eggs and Other Objects Have Become Tools of Robotaxi Attacks

Eggs have featured in incidents involving autonomous vehicles beyond Denver, demonstrating that this form of harassment is not limited to Colorado. In July, two 14-year-old boys were detained near El Camino Real and Atherton Avenue after allegedly stealing six dozen eggs from a Trader Joe’s in San Carlos. They reportedly threw eggs at surrounding cars from inside a moving Waymo passenger cabin until police intervened. Several drivers in Redwood City had reported objects striking their vehicles before law enforcement stopped the autonomous trip. The incident involved people using a robotaxi as the setting for actions that affected other road users, rather than simply targeting the automated vehicle itself.

Examples of Egg-Throwing Incidents:

• Two teenagers detained in San Carlos
• Six dozen eggs allegedly stolen
• Eggs thrown from moving Waymo cabin
• Nearby drivers reported objects striking cars
• Police intervened to stop the trip

The Denver reports, the California incidents, and earlier attacks involving rocks, graffiti, and vehicle damage illustrate different ways autonomous fleets can become targets of public aggression. The motivations behind these actions are not uniform, and the available accounts do not establish one explanation for every incident. Some people may be expressing frustration with the technology or the companies deploying it, while others engage in destructive behavior without a clearly established motive. In some cases, passengers may find themselves caught up in confrontations they did not initiate. These events create practical concerns for operators, passengers, and local communities, particularly when vandalism disrupts a ride or creates a hazard for other drivers. They also add a social dimension to the challenge of integrating driverless vehicles into everyday traffic.

5. Critics Question Robotaxis’ Impact on Jobs, Privacy, and Traffic

But public resistance to autonomous vehicles also stems from concerns over how driverless transportation will alter life in the city. Some people have expressed fears that robotaxis will threaten local jobs, both for human taxi and driver workers and for public transportation, like buses and trains. There are also worries about privacy, particularly over the use of cameras in cars and the government surveillance that comes with autonomous driving, as well as concerns over drive failures, traffic, and the transportation of public safety vehicles with no human behind the wheel. These objections have sparked the ongoing debate over whether robotaxis are being widely accepted in our cities.

Why Some Residents Oppose Robotaxis:

• Concerns about human driving jobs
• Potential effects on public transit
• Questions surrounding in-vehicle camera privacy
• Worries about congestion and mishaps
• Safety concerns over driverless operation

If, by contrast, supporters insist on the everyday ease of autonomous ride-hailing services and maintain that such technology can spare human drivers’ mistakes, the divide helps explain why the cars can both draw and repel regular users. Jeff Hunley, for example, continues to find Waymo’s ease worth pursuing, even after being pelted with an egg; most others, on the other hand, may take issue with driverless vehicles over their economic, safety or privacy implications. That tension can be consequential for when autonomous services roll out to more communities and encounter pedestrians, bikes, traditional cars and transit. Vandalism is one way to tell of that friction, but Denver’s ordeal also revealed another driverless vehicles must deal with the hazards of unpredictable street conditions and nuanced local policies.

6. Denver’s Streets Reveal Unexpected Navigation Challenges

Denver was also the scene of other stranger moments from Waymo’s self-driving car early this fall, other than the eggings this week In September, a robotaxi in the empty fleet was parked by signs and barriers in the South Pearl Street Farmers Market at about 8:15 a.m. Vendors getting ready for the day’s event needed to carefully steer the slow-moving vehicle through a series of tents to get to the road, according to Theodore Subbotin, manager of the farmers market, and event coordinator. No injuries or damages were reported, but vendors were confused to see the vehicle take a wrong turn on the temporary parking lot.

Denver’s Reported Navigation Incidents:

• Robotaxi entered South Pearl Street market
• Vehicle passed through barricades and signs
• Vendors guided it through market tents
• No injuries or damage were reported
• Another car approached a closed street

Other incidents highlighted similar difficulties with the city’s changing street environment. In early September, a driverless Waymo unexpectedly entered a car show during the grand opening of Flat Six Coffee in south-central Denver. During the same month, another vehicle attempted to drive down a West Colfax neighborhood street that had been closed for resurfacing. These examples illustrate the complexity of navigating real-world roads where construction, temporary closures, markets, and special events can change the normal route. While the reported incidents did not cause injuries or damage in the farmers market case, they raised questions about how autonomous systems interpret unusual conditions. They also underline the importance of clear procedures for responding when a driverless vehicle behaves unexpectedly.

7. Colorado Law Has Gaps in Handling Driverless Traffic Violations

The incidents have raised questions of how to enforce traffic violations with a driverless car without a human behind the wheel. The Denver Police Department and Colorado State Patrol say the state has no law in place to authorize the issuance of a traffic citation to a driverless vehicle when no human driver is present. Waymo spokesman Chris Bonelli said the company receives and pays citations “just like any other driver” in areas where there are established procedures for doing so. The police spokesman in Denver said Colorado statutes lack a clear framework to give officers the authority to give citations to a driverless vehicle.

Legal Challenges for Autonomous Vehicles:

• No human driver behind the wheel
• Colorado lacks a clear citation mechanism
• Police face statutory enforcement limitations
• Waymo says it pays applicable citations
• Updated regulations may be considered

Colorado has also green-lighted fully driverless vehicles in the past, including with Senate Bill 17-213 in 2017, which created C.R.S. 42-4-242. That statute says liability for crashes involving automated driving systems will be based on existing state, federal and common law. Yet state regulators recognized in August that their rules still all assume there’s a person in the driver’s seat. That leaves questions lawmakers and police can’t fully answer in the interim, as Denver’s first driverless service expands, about who might be held responsible for traffic citations or accidents, and whether there will be a remote operator. State lawmakers plan to debate new rules for autonomous vehicles in the coming legislative session.

8. Denver Police Have Special Procedures for Waymo Robotaxis

To prepare officers for driverless cars, Denver police published a comprehensive training bulletin last month. It includes instructions on how the Waymo robotaxi is programmed to identify emergency lights and pull over to the side of the road if an officer’s squad car approaches from behind. After the robotaxi stops, it unlocks its doors and rolls down the window to the passenger side so police can communicate with a Waymo representative remotely, or officers can use the QR codes on its door windows or press a dispatch button in the center console to get through to a dispatcher.

Police Guidance for Driverless Vehicles:

• Vehicles detect emergency lights
• Robotaxis pull over for police
• Doors unlock and windows lower
• QR codes connect officers to Waymo
• Center-console button contacts dispatch

The bulletin also provides guidelines for incidents of machinery malfunction and in traffic collisions. When a vehicle is exhibiting signs of mechanical failure, a vehicle malfunction, officers should call in to a supervisor, and ask for Waymo to take it offline. Registration, insurance and owner information are available in the vehicles sun visors for normal reference. Officers should write in the driver info of crash reports and leave the vehicle computer entry blank while selecting the self-driving vehicle box. Access to interior camera footage or passenger history is only available via a search warrant and in car data is deleted after 24 hours. The bulletin addresses a number of operational issues like communications, vehicle identification, incident reports and privacy that arise when working with a vehicle that is not driven by a human.

9. Waymo’s Denver Permit and Winter Testing Bring New Challenges

Waymo received the passenger-carrier permit to operate the Denver service from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on June 12, 2026. On August 12, the commission authorized a waiver from eight rules that assume a human driver aboard, including medical-fitness documentation and hours of service. The company began offering rides to the public in the newer Ojai vehicles over a 60-square-mile service area that includes downtown Denver, LoDo, Capitol Hill, Cherry Creek, Coors Field, Ball Arena, and Empower Field. Denver is Waymo’s 14th market for the supplied account, and its first real challenge in a winter environment, including weather, to the company’s ability to operate.

Denver Service and Winter Readiness:

• Passenger-carrier permit granted June 12
• Two-year waiver approved August 12
• Service covers a 60-square-mile zone
• New Ojai vehicles serve passengers
• Winter weather tests autonomous systems

The presence of snow adds a new wrinkle for driverless vehicles, as it can hide road lines, snowplain sensor sensors, and alter the grip of the road surface. Waymo has tested its vehicles over several winters in Michigan, New York, and the Sierra Nevada, and now Denver’s year-round winter conditions will be a new challenge for the company’s hardware and perception systems to contend with on a popular urban journey that many other vehicles will also be sharing. The robotaxis will need to navigate shifting conditions on the road, as well as share the streets with all manner of other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists, thereby adding another new challenge on the road to the issues already highlighted by vandalism, out-of-the-ordinary road closures, and short-term headways.

10. Waymo’s Safety Claims Face Scrutiny Despite Extensive Autonomous Driving

Waymo’s version of the story points to a different set of problems for its driverless fleet. Its cars have driven more than 220 million miles in fully autonomous mode through March 2026, and log about four million autonomous miles a week. According to Waymo’s safety reports, its car’s autonomous system had 94 percent fewer crashes that cause serious injuries or fatalities than human drivers in the same areas. The company also reported a drop of 82 percent for all injury-causing crashes and an 84 percent decline in crashes caused by people on bikes and motorcycles. This is part of Waymo’s argument that autonomous cars can make the roads safer, even as vandalism and the company’s difficulties operating in Denver persist.

Safety Figures and Outstanding Questions:

• Over 220 million autonomous miles
• More than four million miles weekly
• Reported 94% fewer serious injury crashes
• Reported 82% fewer injury-causing crashes
• Independent advocates urge careful interpretation

Autonomous vehicle safety advocates say Waymo’s safety comparisons are not apples to apples, considering its total miles travelled accounted for just 0.004% of what Americans drive in a year. Federal regulators have examined a number of issues including the car’s refusal to yield to school buses in Austin, as well as a Santa Monica crash in which a robotaxi hit a nine-year-old kid near a school. Denver’s first official Waymo crash happened on Aug. 27 near West 8th Avenue and Denver Health. An unoccupied robotaxi yielded to a pedestrian and an observing van behind the car had to brake to avoid hitting the pedestrian. A following driver hit the van and forced it into the robotaxi, which then hit the van, forcing it into the robotaxi and setting off the airbags. Police ticketed the other driver for following too closely.