‘Bet that took Waymo time’: Driverless car goes in circles for ten minutes with passenger stuck in the back

The automatic taxi service known as Waymo doesn’t exactly have the greatest reputation amongst customers. However, the idea that robot cars could eliminate the possibility of human error is a somewhat optimistic goal, we’re just not quite there yet.

Nothing demonstrates this more perfectly than a video posted to TikTok in which one of the driverless vehicles can be seen driving in a continuous circle for what feels like an eternity. It most definitely felt that way for the passenger stuck in the back at least. The original poster claims that the bizarre behavior from the robo-car lasted about ten minutes.

The clip is sped up and presumably begins after the car has already been circling for a while but even so it feels painfully long. The way out of this loop would be blatantly obvious to any human driver with a pair of eyes and yet the clueless robot on wheels drives past it countless times, making the same mistake over-and-over.

Eventually it does find its way out but the blunder certainly proves there is still a long way to go until we can fully rely on driverless cars to get us anywhere.

Waymo still has a ways to go

Of course, compared to some of the other issues these automatic cars have caused in recent months this is relatively tame. Back in November, one of the self-driving cars ran over a beloved neighborhood cat in San Francisco. In another case, an actress found herself on a ride from hell after her Waymo ran the lights at an intersection when it shouldn’t have.

Of course, these incidents are comparatively rare compared to all the journeys in these cars that go without a hitch. But personally I’d prefer a human driver and think I always will.

Many in the comments underneath the TikTok video expressed similar sentiments. “And they’re thinking of giving Waymo the green flag in Toronto…” Wrote one unconvinced individual. Meanwhile, others made some pretty terrible puns like, “it went Waymo circles than it needed to,” or, “this was Waymo funnier than it should have been.”

A few claimed that they had seen the passenger’s POV on TikTok but the video many are referring to appears to be another instance of the same issue happening in a different location. The clip, which was posted at the very start of this year shows a passenger recording themselves while speaking to customer service as the Waymo car drives in a circle much like the above video. It seems the company has yet to iron this kink out almost a year later.