Former Waymo employee offers insights after Las Vegas crash involving autonomous vehicle

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A video obtained by 8 News Now appears to show an autonomous vehicle involved in a crash in the Las Vegas Valley. A viewer captured the aftermath of a crash near Sunset Road and Polaris Avenue on Saturday morning involving two vehicles, including a Waymo autonomous vehicle.

“I think the challenge is it’s a new technology,” former Waymo employee Spencer Penn told 8 News Now.

Penn said he worked for the company from 2019 to 2021 and is based in the Bay area. His role involved evaluating the performance of the company’s vehicles.

“My job was specifically related to capturing evaluation metrics for the car’s performance,” he said.

Penn does not believe the technology caused the crash. He highlighted the vehicle’s technology, specifically its cameras, and how they help show what took place.

“There’s 13 cameras on the vehicle,” he explained. “So in any of these crash scenarios, Waymo has a huge preponderance of data that they quickly evaluate themselves and share with regulators.”

Waymo told 8 News Now a driver behind the autonomous vehicle lost control, hit the Waymo, and crashed into a pole.

It’s unclear whether anyone was injured in this crash.

“It will be the case that self-driving vehicles will have accidents, but the question is are they having fewer than humans? And the answer appears to be absolutely yes,” Penn said.

Waymo announced this July it would begin “rider-only” trips for employees across the greater Las Vegas area. The company said the service will open to the public in the coming months, but has not announced an exact date.

Other autonomous vehicles, like Zoox, are already seen along the Las Vegas Strip.

Penn told 8 News Now one difference with driverless vehicles is what happens after a crash.

“Unlike a human driver, where you kind of got to get their information before they hightail out of there, with Waymo, I think you know where to find that organization,” Penn said.

Penn tells 8 News Now if a Waymo vehicle is involved in a crash, riders can contact an active rider support team.

The growth of autonomous vehicles expands beyond Las Vegas. Data from YipitData shows booking among Waymo vehicles increased in San Francisco between 2023 and 2025, while Uber and Lyft vehicles both declined.