Should a real-world driving test with a human examiner be required before autonomous vehicles remove the human safety supervisor? That’s the question that came to mind after watching multiple Zoox vehicles navigate the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard (the Strip) and Spring Mountain Road.
Filmed on January 6th, 2026, around 6 PM, it was at the height of CES-induced traffic. This video intended to capture 10 to 15 seconds of broll to reinforce the recurring CES theme of physical AI. An unexpected story developed when another Zoox got stuck at the intersection for at least three lightcycles.
5+ Seconds – Cautious to a Fault #
The first red flag was Zoox’s slow reaction time. It took more than 5 seconds for this driverless vehicle to react after the car in front of it moved. That led to a new shot from the opposite side of the bridge, where a second Zoox was discovered.
This Zoox was stuck in a closed lane. The traffic control person moved one of the cones to give it more space to maneuver. The Zoox was either reluctant to move, or the 5+ second decision time was too long for the typical Las Vegas driver.
In the meantime, a Zoox coming from the opposite lane somehow got stuck in the middle of the intersection. This appeared to be an unsafe condition, particularly for the traffic control person attempting to direct this confused robot people mover.
Eventually, both Zoox vehicles managed to return to their respective paths. It is unclear whether a teleoperator helped them out of this situation or whether they autonomously figured out how to escape from this atypical traffic pattern.
Edge Case or Not, It Still Looked Like an Inexperienced or Overly Cautious Driver #
Although the above might be considered an edge case, Grok and Gemini estimate that traffic control at this intersection is necessary between 50 and 100 times per year.1 For the pod passenger, this would be a frustrating experience watching helplessly as traffic passes by this hesitant driver.
Judging by this incident, the autonomous pods have the skills of a driver with a learner’s permit. Would a DMV examiner pass this robot driver in a real-world driving test? Should there be a test for autonomous vehicles that requires a real-world drive with a human examiner?
- From Grok, “This equates to roughly 1–2 instances per week on average, mostly short-term (hours, not full days) and event-clustered (e.g., November heavy due to F1/SEMA). No routine presence—signals managed daily flow. If including brief responses (e.g., 1-hour crash scenes), it could approach 100 [Gemini’s projection], but that’s stretching “needed.” 2025 saw lower overall tourism/traffic (visitation down ~5–10%), reducing needs.” ↩︎
Leave a Reply