Waymo LLC has long been regarded as the leader in autonomous vehicle development and technology, but all might not be as well as it seems at the company, according to a report published Tuesday.

The Information quoted a number of unnamed Waymo insiders who claim the vehicles being used in the Arizona ride-hailing test have numerous problems. The test, which launched in November, is meant to be converted to a full commercial service later this year,

The report claimed that the autonomous Chrysler Pacifica struggles to handle a number of driving tasks and even goes as far as annoying human drivers around them.

Top among the problems is an apparent issue with turning left. “The Waymo vans have trouble with many unprotected left turns and with merging into heavy traffic in the Phoenix area, especially on highways,” the report noted. “Sometimes, the vans don’t understand basic road features, such as metered red and green lights that regulate the pace of cars merging onto freeways.”

If having problems turning left isn’t bad enough, they also apparently on occasion have problems turning right. One woman claimed that she almost hit a Waymo vehicle as it suddenly stopped while trying to make a right turn.

The report highlights the challenges of building the technology, but some of the problems also come down to predicting and responding to human behavior, particularly when the vehicles have been programmed to follow road rules strictly but humans do not.

Ultimately, the solution to dealing with human drivers may be to restrict or ban them outright, but only a futurist could take a guess as to how many years into the future that may be.

A spokesperson for Waymo told CNBC that its cars are “continually learning” and that “safety remains its highest priority” during testing. The spokesperson added that Waymo is using feedback from its early rider program to improve its technology, though it declined to comment on the report from The Information.

Photo: Waymo