Rider is trapped in a circling self-driving car on way to LAX

A Los Angeles man said he nearly missed his flight home after getting trapped on his way to the airport in a Waymo self-driving vehicle that wouldn’t stop making circles in a parking lot.

L.A. tech entrepreneur Mike Johns posted a video three weeks ago on LinkedIn of his call to a customer service representative for Waymo to report that the car kept turning in circles and that he was nervous about missing his flight.

“I got a flight to catch. Why is this thing going in a circle? I’m getting dizzy,” Johns said. “It’s circling around a parking lot. 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?”

The customer service representative told Johns to open his Waymo app and that she would try to pull the car over but seemed to struggle with getting the vehicle to stop.

Johns was returning home from Scottsdale, Ariz., according to a CBS report.

On his social media post, Johns, who also works on AI initiatives, according to his LinkedIn profile, said Waymo had not followed up with him after the experience.

“You’d think by now Waymo would email, text or call for a follow-up,” he wrote.

A Waymo spokesperson wrote in an email to The Times on Sunday that the incident occurred in mid-December and that the rider was delayed by roughly five minutes, then driven to his destination.

At the time of the incident, Johns wrote on LinkedIn, “Mind you I was on my way to the airport and now missed my flight.” Johns has since updated his post to clarify that he almost missed his flight.

The spokesperson said the software glitch had since been resolved and that Johns was not charged for the ride. The spokesperson added that the company had tried to follow up with him via voicemail.

The company’s autonomous cars have been a common sight on San Francisco streets for years, and Waymo recently opened its services to all riders after first rolling out a pilot program to select users. The robotaxis launched in L.A. last fall.

Waymo’s stated goal is to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities through autonomous driving technology, and riders and proponents of the service have lauded it as a safe and easy alternative to human drivers.

But there have also been tech glitches and safety concerns during the company’s rollout in several cities.

A man in downtown L.A. on Thursday allegedly attempted to hijack a Waymo and drive away. Police took the man into custody after they eventually got him out of the car.

There have also been reports of riders experiencing harassment by pedestrians who block the car’s path and stall the vehicle.