In a bizarre turn of events, a tech entrepreneur found himself trapped in a self-driving vehicle that wouldn’t stop circling.
Mike Johns, traveling from Scottsdale, Arizona, to Los Angeles in a Waymo taxi, experienced what can only be described as a sci-fi thriller moment when his ride began to endlessly drive around in circles, the New York Post reported.
What was meant to be a smooth trip quickly became a frustrating and disorienting ordeal as the rogue vehicle veered off course.
Johns, clearly baffled and panicked, took to his phone to call Waymo’s customer service while the car kept spinning. “I got a flight to catch. Why is this thing going in a circle?” he asked the representative in an anxious tone, as seen in a video Johns posted on LinkedIn.
The tech entrepreneur, clearly agitated, even questioned whether the vehicle had been hacked or if someone was playing a prank on him. His disorientation was palpable, and it appeared like something straight out of a movie.
After several minutes of trying to get control of the vehicle remotely, the Waymo customer service representative managed to stop the car, per the Post. By this point, the vehicle had completed eight full circles in a parking lot.
Johns shared the experience on LinkedIn, describing the chaotic situation as one that “felt like a scene in a sci-fi thriller,” an apt comparison given the surreal nature of the moment.
Despite the vehicle eventually being brought under control and Johns making it to his flight, the experience left him frustrated with Waymo’s lack of follow-up. He expressed disappointment that the company had not contacted him to ensure his safety or explain what went wrong after such an unsettling incident.
“You’d think by now Waymo would email, text, or call for a follow-up. Nope, customer service is automated and ran by AI,” Johns lamented in his post.
Waymo, for its part, confirmed the incident and noted that it occurred in mid-December. The company acknowledged that Johns’ ride was delayed by about five minutes due to the circling, but assured that the issue was resolved in time for him to catch his flight. They also stated that Johns was not charged for the trip, likely as a goodwill gesture after the bizarre malfunction.