Waymo detour leaves SF tourist temporarily stuck inside garage with other robotaxis
By Tim Johns
Click here for updates on this story
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A Waymo took a very weird detour Monday morning as its passenger tried to get to a conference in San Francisco.
Instead, the robotaxi went to a parking garage packed with other Waymos — with no human in sight.
For Darren Findling, his Monday morning Waymo trip was an experience he’ll likely never forget.
Findling, who lives in Michigan, says he downloaded the app to get himself a ride to a convention he was in town for at the Moscone Center. But midway through his ride, something went wrong.
An experience he documented in a social media post.
Findling tells us the Waymo suddenly pulled off the street and into a parking garage.
“What was crazy about this parking structure was that I went from normal humanity into robot world. Self-driving vehicles going up and down the floors of this multi-level parking garage parking itself. And I was in this vehicle, not sure of what I was supposed to do,” Findling said.
What he did was eventually manage to get a hold of a Waymo representative.
He says that person was able to override his car and get Findling back on the correct route.
“They couldn’t figure out why I was there, what caused the vehicle to go there, and that it was quite rare that something like this would happen,” said Findling.
Waymo told us the vehicle had entered the parking structure because it determined it was the quickest route to Findling’s destination.
Despite the hiccup, Findling says the company has been helpful.
“They did provide me with a free ride, and they told me I would get two free rides that would expire in about a week,” he said.
And as for if he’s willing to take another autonomous vehicle next time he’s in town, Findling says the experience hasn’t changed his view on the service,
“I do realize that technology is not perfect and there’s a ways to go for this Waymo to be really perfect,” he said.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
