Waymo Robotaxi Malfunction Causes Passenger Delay
A Waymo autonomous vehicle malfunctioned and drove in circles around a parking lot, trapping a passenger Mike Johns who was heading to the airport. Johns reported nearly missing his flight due to the five-minute delay, though Waymo attributed the issue to a software glitch that was subsequently fixed.
What happened
A Los Angeles-based tech entrepreneur, Mike Johns, was riding in a Waymo autonomous vehicle headed to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix when the vehicle began driving in circles around a parking lot, circling eight times before the malfunction was resolved.
Johns was unable to exit the vehicle and contacted Waymo support, with a representative visible in his video telling him she could not remotely control the car. The issue was resolved after a few minutes, Waymo said, and was attributed to a software glitch addressed by a regularly scheduled software update.
Reported impact
Johns reported he nearly missed his flight to California due to the incident. Waymo stated the incident caused only a five-minute delay, though Johns' flight was fortunately already delayed.
Johns said he became dizzy from the circling and was frustrated by the experience. He stated he would not use Waymo's self-driving taxi service again, describing the situation as 'a half-baked product.'
Index analysis
The vehicle's navigation system failed to follow its intended route and instead looped repeatedly around a parking lot location, raising questions about GPS and autonomous decision-making systems.
Governance controls
Waymo did not charge Johns for the trip and stated the looping event had been addressed by a regularly scheduled software update. A support representative attempted to assist but indicated she lacked the ability to remotely control the vehicle.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.