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Waymo Ride Turns Into Apparent Nightmare: Passengers Report Being Trapped in Autonomous Vehicle
An Austin, Texas, Waymo ride turned terrifying when passengers using the popular driverless taxi app found themselves stuck inside the fully autonomous vehicle. The incident occurred as the vehicle allegedly malfunctioned, halting in the middle of traffic on what has been described as “one of the scariest streets in Austin.”
According to reports, the Waymo passengers found themselves in a real-life “Black Mirror” scenario when their self-driving car came to an unexpected stop in a merging lane beneath the MoPac Expressway. Concerns escalated as the vehicle reportedly locked them inside for several minutes while other vehicles sped past, according to Chron.
Passengers’ Perspective: A Harrowing Experience
“We kept saying ‘We’re on a highway, please move the car,'” Becky Navarro, one of the passengers, recounted in a TikTok video that has garnered significant attention.
Stranded and Concerned
“Cars kept honking at us, and it would not move. It would not let us out,” Navarro explained, sharing video footage of herself and her fellow passenger walking alongside the road with the immobile Waymo vehicle in the background.
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In the video’s caption, Navarro stated that the Waymo vehicle drove past their intended destination and headed towards downtown Austin. She also mentioned that they were eventually released from the vehicle after approximately five minutes.
Post-Release Observation
The video further shows the car apparently reactivating and driving past the two former passengers as they walked on the shoulder of the road.
“For people who don’t know — this is one of the scariest roads in Austin. Being parked on Mopac is a death trap. This is my fear,” one TikTok user commented, as reported by Chron.
Conflicting Accounts: User Error or System Glitch?
Navarro claimed that the vehicle only unlocked its doors after she threatened to go live on social media and involve customer support. However, Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (Google’s parent company), attributed the issue to user error.
Waymo’s Rebuttal
“During their ride, the passengers in the video pressed the ‘pull over’ button and the vehicle pulled to the side of a 30 mph road with a sidewalk,” a Waymo representative stated to The Post.
- “The riders could have safely exited at any time.”
- “At no point did our Rider Support team remotely unlock the door for them.”
The company emphasized that passengers have the autonomy to pause their ride and exit the vehicle whenever they choose.
Previous Incidents: A Pattern of Concerns?
This incident isn’t isolated, as concerns have previously been raised about Waymo vehicles allegedly locking passengers inside. Waymo operates in several major U.S. cities, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin.
Arizona Incident
Earlier in the year, tech entrepreneur Mike Johns experienced a similar issue when his Waymo ride to Scottsdale Airport in Arizona malfunctioned and began driving in circles rather than proceeding to his destination.
“I got a flight to catch. Why is this thing going in a circle? I’m getting dizzy,” Johns communicated to a Waymo customer service representative in a video posted on LinkedIn.
In that instance, a company employee was eventually able to remotely regain control of the vehicle, allowing Johns to make his flight.
Remote Intervention: A Double-Edged Sword
The remote operation capability of Waymo vehicles has proven useful in other situations as well, such as when Los Angeles police used it to shut down a getaway driverless car that a thief hailed after committing a robbery.