When we think of self-driving cars, many of us remember KITT from the hit ‘80s show Knight Rider. As well as being able to drive itself and talk to driver Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff), its turbo boost made it faster than anything else on the road. It was also bullet-proof and could jump over obstacles.
But now they are here, the reality is self-driving cars have been designed to look like and do what every other car on the road does – get people from one place to another safely and comfortably.
This means passengers can use them in the same way they do a conventional taxi with a driver, although a recent incident in the US highlights what can go wrong – and how one passenger was helpless to stop it.
Airport run
American traveller Mike Johns booked a Waymo robotaxi to take him to Arizona airport. But as he got in, the vehicle appeared to develop a fault and ended up driving around a car park in circles, leaving him trapped inside and making him dizzy.
When it became clear the car would not stop or continue the journey on its own, he contacted Waymo customer services.
Filming the event on his phone as it unfolded, he said: “I’ve got my seatbelt 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?”
Sky News reports that customer services advised him to try and stop the taxi using the app as they are unable to control the robotaxis remotely. The Waymo taxi circles the car park about eight times before finally coming to a stop.
Trapped
As the drama unfolded, the tech entrepreneur began posting on his LinkedIn account. He said: “I get in, buckle up (safety first) and the saga begins.”
Mr Johns is heard telling Waymo’s support team: “I’ve got a flight to catch, why is this thing going in a circle? I’m getting dizzy!” The agent is heard saying: “I’m really, really sorry, Mike.”
“Why has this happened to me on a Monday?” Mr Johns asked in the video.
The Waymo agent reassures him that she is trying to stop the car. At some point the taxi stops its loops and takes Mr Johns to the airport as originally planned and was in time to catch his flight to Los Angeles.
Sky News reports that Waymo didn’t charge him for the trip, adding that “the issue that prompted his vehicle to drive in loops has been addressed by a regularly scheduled software update”.
Safety
Having reached the airport in time, Mr Johns can no doubt look back and smile about the incident. However, it could have been much more serious if it had reached on a busy road such as a highway, with neither himself nor the Waymo customer services agent being able to stop the car.
Despite glitches such as these, Sky News reports that the company said “the taxis are designed to increase road safety and have had 78% fewer crashes that caused an injury compared to human-driven cars” as they have completed more than 33 million miles carrying passengers since 2018.
We know things can go wrong, but for passengers in robotaxis, they need to be reassured that in the event of a problem, they will not be trapped in a vehicle that is out of control.
