In the latest snafu involving driverless cars, a man who jumped into the open trunk of a Waymo taxi — only to be stuck there — became the subject of a viral social media video.
The trapped passenger was discovered near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, when a woman ordered a Waymo for her daughter near the corner of South Westlake Avenue and 6th Street on Monday afternoon only to discover the vehicle already had a passenger when it arrived — in the trunk.
“This s— won’t let me out,” the man said, when asked why he was back there.
Waymo confirmed that a pedestrian entered the trunk after the previous rider left it open. A video of the incident shows the new customer, a woman and a girl with a backpack, receiving a ride credit from Waymo support after the man was removed from the trunk by police.
The man, who said “the people” put him in the trunk, appeared to be detained by police, according to the next videoposted by the same TikTok user. “You wanted more video. This was real life and not a skit,” the user wrote in the caption.
Other TikTok users commented that the man’s actions were concerning and suggested he was hiding to attack a future rider. Waymo has come under fire recently for its safety protocols, after driverless taxis hit two beloved pets, killing a popular neighborhood cat in San Francisco. The dog that was hit was euthanized later, according to KRON.
“Waymo problems than it’s worth,” one TikTok user quipped in a comment.
The company did not say whether the car’s sensors could tell the man was in the trunk, or whether the man would have been able to get out of the trunk himself. Waymo said its Rider Support team helped the user during the incident and reached out afterward as well.
“We’re committed to keeping our riders safe and earning the trust of the communities where we operate. This experience was unacceptable, and we are actively implementing changes to address this,” Waymo said in a statement to The Times.
Last week, video of a standoff between three Waymo cars in San Francisco also went viral. All three cars were stopped, each seemingly waiting for the other to move while one of the driverless cars tried to make a multi-point turn in a dead-end street, according to Waymo.
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