A man in Scottsdale, Arizona, recently got stuck in a self-driving taxi that endlessly drove in circles while attempting to travel to the airport and catch a flight. The man, named Mike, was evidently picked up by the driverless vehicle operated by Waymo, formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project. However, instead of promptly taking him to the airport, the car seemed to have endured a glitch and drove in a continual circle.
Mike pulled out his phone to record the incident and express his frustration with the inconvenience as his flight was set to depart soon. “Why is this happening to me on a Monday? I’m in a Waymo car and this car is just going in circles,” the frustrated rider said in the clip. Someone with Waymo support then began speaking to Mike through the car, explaining, “I’m calling from Waymo support. I’m just calling because I received a notification that your car might be experiencing some routing issue.”
Unamused with the situation, Mike added, “Yeah, I got a flight to catch. Why is this thing going in a circle? I’m getting dizzy. Look at what it’s doing.” He continued illustrating the predicament to the support staff, stating, “It’s circling around a parking lot. I got my seatbelt on. I can’t get out the car. Has this been hacked? What’s going on? I feel like I’m in the movies. Is somebody playing a joke on me, and I got a flight to catch.”
Waymo support replied, “I understand, Mike. I’m really sorry for this. We’re working with this …Now I’m going to be pulling the car over while we are trying to assist the car.” He then said, “Oh, my goodness, I just better not be late for the flight. You guys are going to take care of the flight.” The incident has sparked renewed concern about the safety and efficacy of driverless technology as Waymo’s are increasingly present on the streets of some cities.
Sharing the incident on his LinkedIn page, Mike wrote, “My Monday was fine till i got into one of Waymo ‘s “humanless” cars. I get in, buckle up ( safety first) and the saga begins. This autonomous vehicle said to heck with GPS, the car just went around in circles, eight circles at that. Is someone pulling a prank, is this car hacked? It felt like a scene in a sci fi thriller.”
After the poor experience with the novel technology, Mike explained that he would be sticking to the “old fashion” version of taxi services that feature a human behind the wheel. “My Waymo experience sucked. Mind you I was on my way to the airport and nearly missed my flight. I’ll keep it old fashion and just #Lyft or #Uber,” he concluded.
One person commented under the post, “Prime example of how putting a product out too soon without the right quality control can cause problems. Mike Johns, I’m glad you’re safe and It was just ringing around the Rosie for a minute. Lol.” Utilizing business school lingo, another person commented, “Early adopter pain is real! Sorry about your misadventure, but at least it gave you a great post!”
Watch Mike’s experience below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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