Waymo Taxi Traps Los Angeles Man in Parking Lot

Mike Johns, a Los Angeles tech entrepreneur got trapped in a self-driving car last month and the experience wasn’t pleasing. The Waymo taxi kept driving around in circles in a parking lot delaying his arrival at the airport.

Johns had been on his way back home to Southern California from Scottsdale, Arizona. He then hopped into a Waymo taxi to be chauffeured to a nearby airport.

What happened next was something he didn’t see coming. The vehicle began driving in circles, much to his amazement.

Distress Call For Help

Mike eventually had to make a distress call for help.

“I got a flight to catch. Why is this thing going in a circle?” Johns said to a Waymo representative in a video that has gone viral on social media, garnering over two million views and engagements.

Johns says that not even the customer service representative was able to stop the spinning car immediately. He was stuck in the vehicle for “eight circles”, according to his LinkedIn post.

“It’s circling around in a parking lot. I’ve got my seatbelt on. I can’t get out of 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?” Johns can be heard saying in the video.

Thankfully, the representative was able to get the car to function properly, and he got to the airport on time.

What Does This Mean for the Future of Autonomous Vehicles?

Mike Johns added that one major concern is the lack of empathy from the representative he had contacted. He couldn’t tell if he was talking to a human or AI.

“Where is the empathy? Where’s the human connection to this?” Mike asked in an interview with CBS News Los Angeles.

“It’s just, again, a case of today’s digital world. A half-baked product and nobody meeting the customer, the consumers, in the middle.” He added.

According to Mike Johns’ LinkedIn profile, he also works in the tech industry.

He says he would love to see services like Waymo succeed, but he has no plans of using their services in the near future. At least, until he’s sure issues like these have been resolved.

According to Mike, he hasn’t gotten a call from Waymo since the incident. Something he had expected, considering the reaction his post on social media had received. In his opinion, everything is controlled and run by Artificial Intelligence.

On the contrary, a spokesperson from Waymo explained that an attempt was made to reach out to Johns. They also added that Johns wasn’t charged for the ride, taking into account the vehicle’s malfunctioning.

The company’s autonomous vehicles have been a common sight on the streets of San Francisco for years.

Their stated goal is to lessen the rate of traffic injuries and fatalities.

Although there are still a few technical glitches, riders and promoters of the service claim it’s a