‘I have a flight to catch!’: Watch passenger TRAPPED in driverless taxi going in circles after robot car malfunctions
THIS is the moment a helpless passenger was left trapped in a driverless taxi after a glitch sent it spinning eight times.
Mike Johns is a tech entrepreneur from Los Angeles but in an ironic twist of fate, he fell victim to the dangers of self-driving technology.
The haunting footage, which emerged on Monday, shows the steering wheel of the Waymo car spinning frantically on its own, as Mike sits in the back seat in shock.
As the glitching vehicle goes round in circles, Mike simply sits and watches out of the window.
The stunned passenger attempted to call tech support during the incident which he likened to a scene from a “sci-fi thriller”.
In the video, he can be heard saying: “I got my seat belt on. I can’t get out of the car. Has this been hacked? What’s going on?
“I feel like I’m in the movies. Is somebody playing a joke on me? And I got a flight to catch.
“Why is this happening to me on a Monday?”
Despite her efforts, the Waymo representative admitted she didn’t “have an option to control the car”.
Mike says he almost missed his flight after being left trapped in the spinning motor in the car park of an airport in Phoenix, Arizona.
The issue was eventually resolved within a few minutes, allowing Mike to catch his delayed flight.
Waymo has confirmed Mike was not charged for his journey.
The company has been trialling self-driving technology in cities including Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin.
According to reports, the incident was blamed on a software glitch, which has now been addressed through an update.
Mike is a self-described futurist and AI enthusiast, and said he isn’t deterred from using driverless cars in the future.
He told The Guardian: “As a futurist, I feel like this is where everything is headed, so you might as well get there first.
“It’s just we have glitches that need stitches.”
However, he said that for now, he intends to keep his travel “old-fashioned” and stick to services like Uber or Lyft.
He added: “It’s just, again, a case of today’s digital world.
“A half-baked product and nobody meeting the customer, the consumers, in the middle.”
Rise of the robots
Self-driving technology allows drivers to travel without having to ever touch the wheel.
It is still in its early stages, but this doesn’t make it any less ought after.
Tech companies all over the world, including Elon Musk’s Tesla, are announcing and trialling not just self-driving cars, but an entirely new artificial way of living.
Musk has long been touting this new type of driving, and his Tesla Cyberbeast offers an autopilot setting.
It’ll change lanes automatically when it sees a gap in the traffic and go from 0-60mph in 2.6 seconds.
BMW has revealed a new system that will beam navigational arrows onto windscreen so you never have to take your eyes off the road.
Along the lower section of the windscreen, users will also find a huge pillar to pillar display that projects different information and content with 3D effects.
And it’ll be visible for both the driver and passengers from any angle.
The most important bits of information, such as speed and range, will stay permanently on the driver’s side.
The changes are part of BMW’s new iDrive system which will come to an upcoming X-class SUV that’s due to be announced later in the year.