PHOENIX (CNN) — The self-driving car company Waymo got its start in Arizona a few years ago.
But now, people in one Phoenix-area neighborhood say they keep finding Waymo cars parked in places they feel are unsafe.
Terry Pickering calls this an accident waiting to happen.
He asked, "Why is your car parked on the center line of the street for hours?"
Pickering says self-driving Waymo cars were recently parked throughout his Indian Bend Ranchos neighborhood in Scottsdale. Sometimes they're blocking mailboxes or trash cans, but most alarming, he says they're parking in the middle of the street while they wait for someone to order the service.
"They're dismissive of it and they're not addressing it," Pickering claimed.
He says he's called Waymo's emergency line five times in the last month for five separate cars that were left in the center of the road.
"They move it out of the way, but only after I call them," Pickering shared. "But they don't know it's there until I give them a license plate."
Waymo has told him to to stop calling and that he has to file a complaint online, which he has, but he says no one has gotten back to him.
"This isn't a complaint," Pickering said. "This is a safety issue."
He doesn't think the company should use neighborhoods as parking lots. The autonomous ride-share cars first came to the Phoenix area in 2018 and expanded to Scottsdale in May of this year.
Waymo says it has a few hundred cars in the valley across its 225 square mile service area.
"I have nothing against technology," Pickering reminded. "I just feel like their process for addressing immediate issues with their cars is not refined and it's problematic."
He's left wanting way more from Waymo.
"I get their rules, but I don't play by the rules and I'll be calling them every time a car is in the way," Pickering added.
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