Waymo Woes: Self-Driving Robotaxis Racking Up Crashes And Mystery Riders In The Trunk

There have been several documented incidents involving self-driving cars in California going rogue lately. 

Earlier this month in San Francisco, two Waymo taxis collided. Then the situation became more complicated when a third Waymo autonomous vehicle arrived at the scene and stopped, resulting in a three-way “Waymo standoff” that became funny social media fodder. 

The drivers on the road that day were less amused as the street was blocked until Waymo reps arrived on scene to break up the mess. 

Days later, a San Francisco man recorded the frightening moment a Waymo self-driving vehicle he was riding in pulled out onto the road and into the path of another car, almost causing a collision.

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“I already almost got into a car accident. Oh my God. I am never doing this again,” Chris Rogers said in a video clip. 

“The other car absolutely had the right of way, and there was no way for me to fix the situation. I would’ve been forced to endure a really bad car accident,” Rogers told Storyful, adding that it was his first – and probably last – experience with a self-driving car. “Thank God the other driver was a human being and managed to swerve at the last moment,” he added.

Also this month, a Waymo robotaxi went viral after it rolled straight through a police standoff in downtown Los Angeles. Bystander video shows the driverless car turning directly beside several police vehicles with their lights flashing, even as a suspect lay on the pavement.

Near misses and crashes might not be as common in Waymos when compared to human drivers, but now there’s a new danger to contend with. Most recently, a Los Angeles woman checked the trunk of a self-driving taxi and discovered a man hiding inside, per MotorBiscuit.  

The incident occurred near MacArthur Park in the Westlake District of Los Angeles. The woman said she ordered the Waymo for her daughter. In a TikTok captioned “This was real life and not a skit,” she can be heard recounting what happened to authorities.

“Why the f*ck are you in the trunk?” the woman can be heard asking the man in a TikTok video. 

“I’m trying to figure this out. This sh*t won’t let me out,” he replied. “They just put me in it.”

“Who put you in it?” she asked. 

“The people,” he replied.

Police responded but did not arrest the man as he technically committed no crimes, FOX 11 News noted. 

A Waymo spokesperson made the following statement on the incident, per CBS LA News: “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 is an autonomous driving technology company and a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., which offers on-demand transportation in select cities across the United States, including Austin, Phoenix, and Atlanta. Waymo claims its cars have 90% fewer accidents compared to human drivers.