‘That feeling was very uncomfortable’: Los Angeles man’s Waymo ride goes awry

Self-driving cars are meant to provide a combination of convenience and innovation, but for one L.A. man trying to get back to the City of Angels, his experience, caught entirely on camera, was nothing but bizarre and frustrating. 

Mike Johns, the founder of AI strategy company Digital Mind State, told KTLA that he was in Scottsdale, Arizona, for a business trip last week when he decided to use a Waymo robotaxi to travel to the airport to fly back to Los Angeles. 

It was just his second time using the service, he said. 

The journey started off normal; Johns got into the back of the car, buckled his seatbelt and the Waymo began driving. 

Only, rather than go to the airport, the car just drove in circles for minutes, leaving him stranded and dizzy. 

To top it off, Johns said Waymo’s customer service only made things worse. 

“Somebody at the control tower realized there’s an issue and tried to fix it, but the kicker is, they told me to try and use my phone to fix the problem,” he told KTLA.  

After about 10 circles in a row, the car was eventually able to stop, but Johns says the experience raises concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles and their customer service. 

“That feeling was very uncomfortable, where you’re strapped in and you can’t open the door as the vehicle was just going in circles,” he said.  

Waymo did not immediately respond to Johns’ complaint or KTLA’s request for comment.