A Waymo news report from the USA
One month after an incident in Harlesden, the mobilisation against Autonomous Vehicles is growing across the capital.
On Friday 22 May, a collective of concerned residents and workers will gather on Harlesden High Street by the Jubilee Clock at 5pm to mark a new stage in the campaign SAY NO TO WAYMO launched less than a month ago by two local mums, who became Green Party councillors on May 7th.
Members of ADCU (App Drivers and Couriers Union), campaigners of Pull the Plug - a movement to give ordinary people a say on how AI is tested and implemented. Harlesden residents will gather to make their voices heard and say No to WAYMO.
WAYMO, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc - Google’s parent company, has been testing its robotaxis in the north west London neighbourhood of Harlesden and Stonebridge since the opening of its operations hub in Park Royal in April - and the presence of the oversized cars hasn’t gone unnoticed, particularly since April 22nd. On that day, a WAYMO AV breached a police line on Harlesden High Street. The incident was filmed by a bystander and went viral on social media, alerting thousands of Londoners to the presence of robotaxis in the capital.
In media reports, WAYMO claimed that the car was operating in manual mode “with a validation driver in full control” but the Harlesden incident - which has been classified as an AI incident by the OECD- was enough for Amandine Alexandre and Suzanne Gallagher, then Green Party candidates for the local elections, to do some research. They promptly decided to start a petition asking the Mayor of London to put the WAYMO’s trial on pause and, since then, have been on a mission to inform fellow Londoners about the risks entailed by the rollout of AV’s on our streets..
Amandine Alexandre, Green Party Councillor in Harlesden and Kensal Green, said:
The more we learn about those AI-powered vehicles and the more we are convinced that Londoners have nothing to gain from the introduction of robotaxis. Those oversized vehicles are clogging up our roads, collecting tons of energy consuming data and taking us one step closer to a future where human interactions become the exception rather than a rule.
For London’s estimated 150 000 private hire drivers, WAYMO is also a threat to their livelihoods as the AV company said earlier this year that they were aiming at launching a fully commercial service in London in September. “The fear of losing their income is a constant and growing worry at the back of drivers’ minds”, the App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) said.
Cristina-Georgiana Ionitescu, General Secretary of the ADCU, added:
London cannot afford a tech-first, people-last experiment. Any move toward automation must start with rigorous, transparent safety standards, real-world environmental safeguards that reduce total vehicle miles, and protections against oversupply. Most importantly, there must be a just transition for drivers. That means legally enforceable job security, funded retraining, income guarantees during changeover, and a seat at the table for worker-led unions. Our message is simple: no rollout without public consent. And no future that leaves drivers behind.
Suzanne Gallagher, Green Party Councillor for Kilburn, concluded:
We are not against innovation that improves our lives and our communities, but we are fiercely opposed to our city being used as a testing ground for Silicon Valley experiments. Earlier this year, New York paused WAYMO's permits and halted further driverless trials. It is time for Mayor Sadiq Khan to follow the lead of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and prioritise Londoners’ jobs and public safety over Big Tech’s extractive business model.
Petition on 38 degrees :
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/harlesden-says-no-to-waymo
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