A video that has gone viral shows two individuals blocking a driverless taxi in San Francisco and demanding the phone number of a frightened passenger.
The victim, identified as Amina, a tech worker, shared a video on X showing two men obstructing the path of her Waymo car, refusing to move and insisting on getting her number.
“Stop! No! Go! Go!” Amina shouted as the men continued to grin and harass her.
“I was stuck as the car was blocked in the street,” Amina wrote on X. “The first guy stood in front of the car for about a minute before I started recording. Then he returned with another guy.”
When Amina paused filming to contact Waymo’s in-car support service, “a random man carrying a blow torch” joined the disturbing scene, she mentioned. “I was worried more men would gather around, which fortunately did not happen.”
Waymo, the company operating self-driving taxis in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, apologized to Amina on X. The Alphabet-owned company also stated to the San Francisco Standard that such incidents are rare among the 100,000 trips they handle weekly.
However, this is not the only recent incident involving Waymo taxi disturbances.
In February, a man who appeared homeless attacked a couple’s Waymo car and tried to obstruct its sensors, which could have disabled the vehicle and left them vulnerable, as reported by ABC San Francisco.
One of the victims told ABC, “If we were outside walking, we could’ve walked away or run. If we were driving, we could ensure the doors were locked. In this case, we had no control.”
Waymo later advised the couple to stay inside the vehicle if a pedestrian attacks it.
Amina has accepted Waymo’s apology.
“The Waymo team was excellent and provided in-car support. They followed up with a call, and overall, they were effective in resolving the issue,” she stated. “I may still use their services but will be cautious when traveling alone.”
