Waymo v. Exit 3A and camo Hummers. Charlotte has thoughts on new driverless cars
Robotaxis are being tested by humans behind the wheel in uptown Charlotte. But they’ll be driverless soon.
Pedestrians in the heart of the Queen City will be seeing a service seen in movies such as The Fifth Element, I Robot and Minority Report, thanks to Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, parent company of Google.
Waymo unveiled its plans to introduce its driverless vehicles in Charlotte on Wednesday.
For Charlotte resident Caleb Quarles, the advancement is a welcome sight. “The thought of that is really cool because of how futuristic that sounds,” Quarles said. “I think that will be pretty fun.”
But even in the movies, autonomous tech wasn’t without its flaws. Quarles hopes the service launches with safety features and failsafes to prevent accidents, adding that human drivers must remain cautious during the transition.
“Just because these cars are driverless shouldn’t mean to not be alert or too relaxed about it,” Quarles said.
Social media takes on Waymo in Charlotte
While Waymo has not confirmed routes, the company stated its operations will center around Charlotte’s uptown core. This includes the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets — the same area where Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball was involved in a minor two-car accident involving his camo Hummer on Feb. 18 that nonetheless grabbed national headlines.
The coincidence sparked a wave of commentary on social media. “Fantastic endorsement opportunity for LaMelo,” one Redditor joked. “Waymo vs. LaMelo,” added another.
Others online spoke of the city’s history as well as the roads themselves. “Imagine no GPS trying to navigate Queens Rd(s),” one person wrote on Reddit. Elsewhere on that thread, another person referred to an infamous exit on Interstate 277 and noted, “3A or an Altima will take out one of these the first month of operation.”
And someone from Gastonia simply said, “Waymo wants to play bumper cars in Nascartown.”
‘I just want to make sure it’s safe’
Despite Waymo’s high-tech pitch, some locals remain skeptical.
Victoria Jones expressed concern regarding safety, citing recent federal investigations into Waymo competitor Tesla’s self-driving software. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has looked into more than 50 incidents involving Tesla vehicles, according to a report from Reuters.
“I just want to make sure it’s safe because (uptown) is heavily populated, especially at lunchtime and in the evening,” said Jones, an employee at Bank of America.
Though nervous, Jones said she is open to trying the service eventually. “I think I would try it. I may go once down the street, but I won’t go too far yet.”
About Waymo in Charlotte
While Waymo did not provide a timeline for when it will remove human safety drivers from its Charlotte vehicles, data suggests they are confident in the tech.
Citing data from over 127 million miles driven, the California-based company claims its autonomous vehicles are significantly safer than humans. The company reports its vehicles are involved in 10 times fewer crashes causing serious injury and 12 times fewer crashes involving pedestrians compared to human drivers in the same locations.
According to Google, the average Waymo ride costs approximately $20.
But for Charlotte residents like Andre Currence, no amount of data is enough.
“I don’t like it,” he said while waiting to cross a busy uptown intersection. “I like to drive myself. Driving without a person is like you’ve got a robot in there driving.”
Currence said he has no plans to let a Waymo take him around town.
“I don’t trust it, period.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 5:15 AM.
