Waymo Self-Driving Taxi's Terrifying Left Turn Spooks Passengers, Netizens Slam It "0/10"

A woman from Arizona had a terrifying experience during her first ride in a Waymo self-driving taxi: the vehicle attempted a left turn onto a six-lane arterial road in Phoenix without traffic lights, slowly merging into oncoming traffic and forcing multiple approaching cars to slam on their brakes. The passenger screamed throughout the incident. She later posted a video of the ordeal on TikTok, which garnered over 2.2 million views, and rated her experience “0/10.” Waymo subsequently contacted her, issued a refund, and stated, “This is not the experience we aim to provide,” adding that it is investigating the incident. The intersection’s design has also come under scrutiny, with some commenters arguing that left turns should not be permitted there. Although Waymo cites data showing its accident rate is far lower than that of human drivers, this incident has reignited public concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles. Waymo currently operates driverless services in 10 U.S. cities and plans to expand to more than 20 by 2026.