"He stood in front of it so that it would come to a complete stop."

Cab Creeps

A San Francisco woman who was riding in a Waymo robotaxi was harassed by two men who stood in front of the cab to trap her at the scene — a creepier episode of people deliberately stopping these autonomous vehicles.

"I love Waymo but this was scary," the woman, a tech worker who goes by Amina, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

In a video she took from the front passenger seat, a man wearing a red hoodie and — yep — a fedora can be seen standing in front of the car. As Amina yells at him to go away and to stop holding up traffic, he repeatedly demands her number. At one point, he even takes off his fedora and extends it to her, despite her pleas to go away.

"He stood in front of it so that it would come to a complete stop," Amina told The San Francisco Standard. "I was a bit frightened when it first happened because I didn't know what they were gonna do."

Another man in a black jacket and a white beanie, whom Amina says joined later, accompanies the fedora-wearing creep. The whole incident lasted several minutes, ending, thankfully, when the two weirdos eventually gave up and left.

Mo Autonomy, Mo Problems

Robotaxis have proved divisive with the locals who live where they operate. And as Waymo opened up its driverless service in San Francisco this summer, several incidents like these — where people stand in front of the robotaxis to trap them — have made the news.

Last month, for example, a viral video showed several men crowding around a Waymo that was stopped in the middle of the street to cover it in graffiti, while the passenger sat inside clutching their little dog.

Meanwhile, the Google-owned company has been trying to crack down on its cars getting vandalized by going after the culprits with lawsuits.

Passenger Protection

But in the grand scheme of things, Waymo claims these kinds of incidents are "exceedingly rare" among the 100,000 trips it serves a week in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

"Our riders have 24/7 access to Rider Support agents who will help them navigate the situation in real-time and coordinate closely with law enforcement officers to provide further assistance as needed," a Waymo spokesperson told The Standard.

Rare or not, it still raises the question of what the passengers — or perhaps the robotaxis themselves — are supposed to do in situations like these.

Amina did commend Waymo's support team for calling to check in on her. But she seems to be having second thoughts about the robotaxis. "I may still take them but will be careful taking it alone," she wrote on X.

More on Waymo: Uber Drivers Say They're Doomed in the Face of Robotaxis


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