While Waymo continues its expansion across America’s roads (and highways), some concerns about the self-driving cars persist. The worries mostly concern autonomous vehicles hallucinating or disobeying traffic rules — such as driving past stopped school buses — but a new anxiety was unlocked this week in Los Angeles, when a female Waymo customer discovered a man hiding in the car’s trunk.
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As reported by the local Fox affiliate, the woman recorded the incident, confronting the man. “Why are you in it?” the unnamed woman asks. “They just put me in it,” the man responds. “Who put you in it?” the female customer says. “The people,” he says.
No arrests were made since no crime was technically committed, according to Fox11.
A Waymo spokesperson explained to Mashable that the man climbed into the trunk after a previous rider left it open. Waymo added that police helped remove the man after the female passenger alerted them, and Waymo’s Rider Support team assisted the woman during the process. The spokesperson said that the support team already has protocols for addressing situations like these and is implementing changes to improve them.
“We’re committed to keeping our riders safe and earning the trust of the communities where we operate,” a Waymo spokesperson tells Mashable. “This experience was unacceptable, and we are actively implementing changes to address this.”
One of the touted benefits of Waymo is the safety it offers lone passengers, especially women; hundreds of thousands of Uber and Lyft customers have allegedly been victims of sexual assault.
The Fox11 report also noted that a Waymo recently drove through an LAPD standoff, slowly cruising between a suspect on the ground and police officers with their guns drawn.
