Taken hostage inside a self-driving car!

Imagine yourself in a science fiction movie. Alone on board an autonomous taxi, the doors are locked and the vehicle is going in endless circles.

This is exactly what Mike Johns, a tech entrepreneur, experienced during a ride in a Waymo autonomous taxi in Scottsdale, Arizona. As he was peacefully heading to the airport, his trip suddenly took a turn worthy of a comedy sketch (or a thriller, depending on your patience).

The vehicle, without warning, started doing circles in a parking lot. Johns, trapped inside, tried to open the doors, but to no avail… he was like a secondary character in Black Mirror. Desperate, he contacted Waymo’s customer service, asking if a cyberattack might be happening. After several minutes of unbearable suspense and probably a few swear words, an operator managed to immobilize the vehicle remotely. The result: Johns barely caught his flight, and Waymo graciously offered the ride free of charge and likely a nice financial compensation to avoid a lawsuit and keep this just a funny story.

Waymo, as a reminder, is a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and one of the pioneers of autonomous driving. Since its beginnings in 2009 under the name “Google Self-Driving Car Project”, the company’s mission has been to make drivers… completely unnecessary. Its autonomous taxis now operate in several American cities, and thousands of users have already experienced the future.

But as Mike’s experience shows, even cars of the future can have a bug. Between fits of laughter and a good dose of nervousness, he summarized his feelings: “It’s an experience to live… but not twice.” An anecdote that reminds us that sometimes, even the most advanced technologies can’t replace a good old human driver and his crackling radio.

READ ALSO: The Tesla Robotaxi is already running!