This can include temporary lane closures, diversions, and situations where a police officer is directing traffic with hand signals. The latter is now something Waymo's autonomous cars can deal with.

Waymo previously said, in a blog post from 2016, that its cars' sensors and software can "read" and react to hang signals made by cyclists, such as for turning or stopping.

Watch a Self-Driving Car Obey Police Hand Signals Waymo's autonomous vehicles can be waved through a broken traffic light. / Advanced Transport / Advanced Transport / Autonomous Vehicles / Waymo ...

The technology it’s equipped with is capable of identifying hand signals; it knows when the traffic cop tells it to stop, when it’s being told to move, and it acts accordingly.

Honda has announced plans to begin testing a “driving support system . . . utilizing traffic-signal information” on public roads in Japan next month. Translated from technical jargon, that ...