A “dizzy” robotaxi passenger nearly missed his flight after his cab started driving around in circles.
Mike Johns was attempting to catch a flight from an Arizona airport and hailed a Waymo driverless taxi last month.
However, his trip was quickly derailed and he nearly missed his flight.
“I get in, buckle up (safety first) and the saga begins,” the tech entrepreneur wrote on LinkedIn.
His car appeared to get confused and started driving in circles around a car park, completing eight loops, according to Mr Johns.
He spoke to customer services in a video he recorded of the incident, but was told they couldn’t remotely stop the car.
“I’ve got a flight to catch, why is this thing going in a circle, I’m getting dizzy!” he told the customer services agent.
“I’m really really sorry, Mike,” the agent told him.
The taxi’s steering wheel can be seen spinning as the car manoeuvres around a small area of the car park over and over again.
“Why has this happened to me on a Monday?” Mr Johns asked in the video.
Mr Johns was asked to try and stop the car using his Waymo app, after the customer services agent said she didn’t have an option to control the car remotely.
Although the video doesn’t make it clear how the problem was resolved, Mr Johns was ultimately driven to the airport by the taxi where he made his flight.
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According to Waymo, which spoke to Sky News’ partner NBC News, he wasn’t charged for his trip.
The issue that prompted his vehicle to drive in loops has been addressed by a regularly scheduled software update, Waymo said.
Waymo taxis are a fleet of driverless cabs spreading across the US, having started off in a Google laboratory. They’re now in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Austin.
The company says the taxis are designed to increase road safety and have had 78% fewer crashes that caused an injury compared to human-driven cars.
The taxis have now driven more than 33 million miles without drivers, and have made headlines in the process.
In August, the taxis went viral after frustrated residents set up a livestream to monitor their constant honking in a car park.
“It’s very distracting during the work day, but most importantly it wakes you up at four in the morning,” said one resident who lived next to the car park.
At the time, Waymo confirmed to Sky News the honking problem was resolved after weeks of complaints from the sleepless residents.
“We’ve updated the software, so our electric vehicles should keep the noise down for our neighbours moving forward,” they said.
Content Source: news.sky.com